Wishing Well
by OrangeCatLouis
Summary: My best friends boring. Really. Cautious and always expecting something bad to happen while I'm more adventurous and trying to make things happen. Unfortunately for her, I don't take directions well and I'm pretty sure that's two bodies floating down the river. Good luck on having a normal day *Generic plot of transportation to other worlds :) Not your cup of tea? That's cool*
1. Chapter 1

**My friend wanted me to write something for her and this popped up in my head. She liked it (she should! I'm doing this for her!) So I decided to see if anyone else would enjoy this little monstrosity I'm starting. I'm iffy about giving this a shot. I'm new - like super new - to the world of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings so be patient and kind if I make mistakes. If I need to correct something let me know - I enjoy learning new things about Tolkien stuff. Also I have no self-esteem so flames make me cry.**

**Fair warning: this is a mixture of both book and movie, I know nothing of ponies, rivers, or dwarves. Also brace yourself for some religion bashing and vague background information. It's been a while since I've written anything and I really suck. Plus I can't ever decide how to write in POVs.**

**I own nothing. If you can, I'd appreciate feedback - reviews, PMs, rocks being tossed at my window with letters strapped to them at random hours of the night.**

**Oh yeah, typical cliché "transportation to another world" story. Those rock my socks.**

* * *

**Wishing Well**

***One***

"Something bad is going to happen today," my roommate stated, her green eyes shifting back and forth as she stared up at the ceiling like the answer was written up there somewhere. I made a face at her as she turned her attention back to me. I kept my seat on the sofa, trying to appear all well behaved and innocent. "Whatever you're planning today Elli, don't do it." She pouted. Wendy, my roommate, was really good at pouting. I guess it came with being the youngest of four older siblings and the fact that she was blessed with some really good genes. She had long, silky black hair and big, expressive, green eyes and fair skin that made her look oh too cute when she pouted. I was a little jealous my ¼ Japanese friend who got the best of Asian and Caucasian genes. I shot her my most innocent look I could muster and raised my hands in mock peace. I was also the baby of my family too so I knew how to feign innocence when necessary. Also, I was rocking the epitome of an angel. Er, well, my mixture of German genes – blonde locks with big bright, blue eyes. If she was a boy I could've showed a little more cleavage since I was blessed with a nice rack (score for me!). That was the generic portrayal of angels, right? Except for the boob thing.

"I'm not planning anything. Promise." I replied sweetly. She shot back an "I-don't-believe-you-in-the-slightest-and-no-matte r-what-you-say-I-know-you're-going-to-do-it" kind of look. Damn – maybe my 'oh so childish innocence' appearance faded away this year when I turned 20. "Look, I'm just gonna practice some tid-bit spells here and there. Maybe attempt a spiritual cleansing of the house. You know, all your negative emotions draws in negative energy and luck." I teased, flipping stray strands of my hair back away from my face. Wendy rolled her eyes at me and moved across the living room to grab her black backpack. I kept my seat on the sofa, watching her cautiously as she passed on by and headed towards the front door.

"Whatever. Just please, don't do anything crazy." Wendy pleaded. "Something bad is going to happen. I know it. I don't know what it is but, it's going to happen." I furrowed my brows at her. What?

"If it's gonna happen, then why are you telling me to not do things? If it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen if you like or not." Where was the logic in _not _doing what your fate intended? Wendy stood in the door way momentarily, eyes shifting back around the room like she was trying to pinpoint an answer. Apparently they floated across the room in front of her face sometimes – too bad they were never answers to important exam questions.

"I don't know. Just, please, whatever crazy exciting thing you are thinking about today, don't do it." Cue dramatic eye roll from me.

"Pfft, whatever. Just go, you're gonna be late to class if you don't leave now." I said, getting up from my spot and 'shooing' my friend out of our little house. She casted one more warning shot at me as she headed down the street and towards campus. I shifted back and forth on my feet momentarily, waiting for her to be out of view before I dashed back into the house and grabbed my brown, canvas satchel from the closet. I began stuffing it with utensils I had scattered throughout the room.

Before I get too far out there let me kinda explain myself. Ourselves. This situation or whatever. You see, Wendy and I are roommates. Not in a gay kinda way, more like a series of unfortunate events involving my ex-boyfriend, the police, and a lot of people getting very pissed off at me kind of way and my beloved best friend taking me into her residence. Wendy's a college student attending Nursing School at Indiana University in Indianapolis while I am currently still 'soul searching' myself. I gave that nursing bull crap a shot and it just wasn't for me. I wanted to do something adventurous – travel the world, climb a mountain, find the Loch Ness Monster - something.

Anyway, Wendy offered to let me stay with her in a little house she (and her parents) were paying rent for while she was in school. Of course I helped out when I could but practicing magick – not magic – but magick was my main thing. I'm not a magician pulling rabbits out of hats and cutting up my assistant's body but a practicing Wiccan. The whole attuning myself with nature and utilizing the subtle energies of the world to protect and better the lives around me kind of thing. I began practicing as a Wiccan in my teens, but according to my parents I've been "odd" since I was a child; always trying to wish Wendy to another place like in our fairy tale stories, pleading to random fairies for an adventure or trying to cast spells on our siblings. Nothing crazy ever did happen but hey, I personally blame my overly Jehovah Witness parents – tons of negative energy from them. Just in case you don't know what Witnesses are, they are the people who knock on your door at eight in the morning asking if you'd like to speak about our lord and savior Jehovah. Yeah. Anyway – back to today.

I dashed around the house, grabbing some items I had scattered about and stuffed them into my bag: an amethyst crystal, chalk, tea lights, incense and tons of other junk I thought I might need. I darted back to the front room and slipped on a pair of black Van shoes, dusted off my blue jeans, and pulled on green hoodie over my black tank top. I pulled my hair into a ponytail and headed out, causing the door to slam behind me as I headed down the street and towards the bridge that lead over the White River to campus. Our apartment was on the west side of the river, so we called it The Ghetto. It wasn't, not really, it was just a little more run down and on the far end of campus where it was a little more unsafe. It wasn't a long walk from here to school, about 20 minutes or so. Wendy really liked being able to walk to campus while I was paranoid something would happen. I really couldn't persuade her to walk with other students or ride the bus so I just creepily watched her walk across the street and over the bridge to campus.

Often when Wendy was gone, I'd walk towards the river and hang out at the bank's edge. There was a spot under the bridge that I would just hang out at whenever I needed a quiet place to relax or wanted to practice casting some spells. Most people would walk the canal and anyone on the river bank were out fishing in spots that they knew were good so I was content in my shady little spot under the bridge until it got dark and the homeless started coming out - then I'm out of there pretty fast.

There was a new spell I wanted to try today and if Wendy said bad things were gonna happen, they usually happened. I wasn't really planning on doing anything to our house. My talents were a little iffy and this was going to be first spell that was going to be casted on such a large object and was going to be used for other people and not just me – don't worry. It's a good spell, nothing dangerous. I'm just really paranoid about people's (actually just Wendy's) safety.

* * *

**(Wishing Well)**

**(Meanwhile, in a better world with better things - maybe)**

Dwarves weren't built to function in water. They weren't designed to go trudging along the riverbank trying to retrieve a spooked pony, the pony being Myrtle, in the pouring, cold rain. Kíli and Fíli happened to be the two poor souls who first found the runaway animal drenched and struggling in the water. The packs it had been carrying had gotten tangled along a few branches on a large, fallen tree that was half submerged in the wide river. Being entangled in the branches caused the poor creature to thrash around wildly in an attempt to get free itself. Kíli and Fíli signed, casting each other exasperated looks. Whatever food and supplies that were in those packs were now ruined, making their already bad day get worse.

"Looks like we'll have to cut her loose and lead her back to land." Kíli stated, adjusting his hood and trying to suppress a shiver. The adjustment didn't help a single bit and the dark haired dwarf continued to shiver.

"Great plan, now whose going to dive in and get 'er?" Bofur asked, looking between the two princes. The other part of the company were trailing behind, trying to find a dry spot to rest till they retrieved Myrtle. Fíli shot Kíli a look and the younger dwarf groaned, knowing he was going to be the one to untangle her.

"Don't worry, I'll jump in for you if you start drowning." Fíli teased, patting his brother on the back affectionately. Kíli shrugged his brother's hand off of him.

"Just get me some rope," He grumbled, surveying the scene and trying to predict the best way to free the pony. Fíli stood next to his brother while Bofur had gone off back to the others to get some supplies. The two stood quietly for a moment, planning on what to do next.

"Think the tree is stable enough to stand on while you cut her loose?"

"Hope so, I really don't want to get in the water to get her out."

Both brothers winced a bit as the wind picked up, causing the rain to sting and pelt down on them. The two dwarves did their best to ignore the cold and made their way over to the fallen tree. It was a large, broad tree looking as if it recently fell and would hold their weight. The brown bark was still intact and had rough, grooved surface that would provide some traction in the rain. Hopefully. Kíli climbed onto the trunk of the tree, gingerly testing his weight to make sure it was sturdy enough to hold him. Dwarves weren't built to be in trees either and this combination of tree submerged in water was the perfect setup for disaster. Kíli placed some more weight onto his feet, making sure the trunk wouldn't bend as he moved across it.

"Careful lad, don't want you to slip off the trunk and get washed down the river." Bofur commented, causing both princes to jump in surprise. The older dwarf laughed, tossing over one end of the rope to Kíli who had momentarily lost balance and was holding his arms out in an attempt to regain it. The other end of the rope was tossed over to Fíli.

The younger dwarf carefully made his way down the tree's trunk, trying to keep his balance against the wind and rain that repeatedly threatened to push him into the river. Myrtle thrashed about tiredly, neighing in protest of being trapped, splashing water unintentionally at Kíli as he got closer.

"Easy, girl. I'm here to get you out." He stated, trying to calm the pony. Myrtle stopped her flailing momentarily as Kíli tied to rope to her bridle. "Give me a moment to cut her lose and I'll tell you when to pull!" Kíli shouted back to the other two on land. He looked over to make sure his brother heard him and he could see the outline of the others coming towards them.

"Some of 'em are coming to help lead her back in," Bofur commented, looking back to see what Kíli was staring at, "Just in case she decides she wants to keep on swimmin' down river." Kíli rolled his eyes and crouched down to begin untangling the bags from the branches. His fingers were slightly numb from the cold and were making the dwarfs movements a little clumsy and slow. When all the baggage seemed to be removed and safely sitting on the tree trunk, Kíli waved towards the others holding the rope. A few members of the group had joined Bofur and Fíli on the bank, lining up behind them ready to help.

"Try to pull her back in." Kíli stated. There was a nod from the others as they began to tug on the rope. Myrtle neighed and thrashed about, violently protesting the pulls and moving awkwardly about. Kíli groaned, trying to keep his balance as the wind roughly blew by. With the wonderful luck they've been having today, he should have known there would be something _in the water _that she was also stuck on. He really didn't want to get in water.

"Hold on. She's stuck on something under the water. I have to jump in and cut her loose." He shouted back. There was a chorus of groans from the other end.

"Make it quick! We're freezing out here!" Someone shouted.

"Don't pull until I tell you to." Kíli called back, ignoring the comment. Whoever said it was going to get an unpleasant surprise when he got back onto land – they weren't the one who had to get into the water to cut the pony free. Grabbing his knife from its sheath, Kíli reluctantly slipped into the icy water. He hissed at the impact at suddenly being incredibly wet and cold from the neck down. He wadded about, trying to keep his head above the waves that kept slamming into him. Myrtle thrashed about again, almost hitting Kíli in the process.

"Easy, girl." He pleaded, trying to calm the pony. He waited for Myrtle to stop struggling before continuing on. Kíli took a quick breath and dove underwater to see what was holding the pony back. His vision was blurry and he strained his eyes, trying to see the underwater problem. Myrtle's back left leg was caught in the straps of a pack that had fallen off when she first had gotten into the water and her thrashing had tangled it up even more in the weeds floating under her and in the submerged branches of the tree. Kíli resurfaced, taking in a deep breath of air, restoring is oxygen reserve for another dive.

"Is everything alright?" A timid voice called out. Kíli assumed it was Bilbo who asked it.

"Yes but don't pull just yet. I still have to cut her free." He stated, gagging a bit as a wave decided to smack him in the face while he was talking. Kíli took another deep breath dove back into the water while everyone one land patiently waited for the archer to give them his command.

"Is he going to be alright?" Bilbo questioned, holding onto a piece of the rope between Bofur and Gloin.

"He'll be fine, lad. Contrary to popular beliefs, dwarves can swim." Gloin stated, watching the water intently.

"It's just we don't really like to." Bofur finished. Suddenly Myrtle began flailing and pulling away from the tree, causing everyone to grab the rope tightly and start directing her towards land with their tugs. Fíli shifted uncomfortably on his feet as he kept his eyes on the water for his brother who hadn't surfaced yet to tell them to pull.

"Kíli?" He shouted, watching the water for him. Panic began to form within him as he let go of the rope. Myrtle had made it close to the shore and everyone continued leading her to land that she was happily swimming to. Fíli took a few steps away from the others, eyes frantically scanning the water. "Kíli?"

Still nothing.

'_If this was a joke, brother, it isn't a good one_.' Fíli thought to himself, hoping his brother was just pulling a bad prank. Moments passed and still nothing happened.

"What's that?" Bilbo awkwardly asked, pointing a little out from where Myrtle once was. There was a faint red pool that was slowly trailing and dissipating as it moved down the river. Fíli took off in a mad dash down the riverbank, following the little red trail.

"Kíli!" Fíli shouted again, spotting his brother's body floating face up down the river leaving the trail of blood that seemed to be coming from an injury somewhere on his head. Fíli quickly stripped himself of his weapons, knowing they'd just weigh him down if he jumped into the water with them. He could faintly hear the others yelling behind him as he made his way towards the water. The river current was speeding up and Kíli's body was bobbing up and down between the waves, going in and out of Fíli's sight. Fíli jumped into the water, tensing momentarily as his body temperature suddenly dropped in the cold environment. He began swimming, reaching out for his brother as everyone on land kept shouting out their names. Fíli blocked out the sound of the others, keeping his gaze focused on his brother. Kíli's body bobbed one last time above the water before a violent wave came running by and submerged the young dwarf's body under water. Fíli took in a panicked, deep breath and dove under the water to find out where the river was dragging his brother to. A blurry image floated around in front of him, his brother's form sinking lower and lower towards the green weeds that were swaying with the current. The weeds were reaching out like thin hands, ready to snatch Kíli and hold him in this aquatic world. Fíli dove deeper, moving quickly to reach his brother. He made it to Kíli's body, grabbing his brother's hand and trying to pull him to the surface. Fíli's lungs seared, aching for him to take a breath of air while there was a tug coming from the other end. Fíli glanced back, mentally cursing his luck. Kíli's foot was tangled in one of the weeds that seemed to be yanking the passed out dwarf back towards the river's depths. Of course, Fíli just had to discard all his weapons on land. He gave a few violent tugs, trying to free his brother as his lungs continued to burn and black spots began forming in his hazy vision. He gave one more violent tug and felt Kíli come loose of the weeds. Fíli pulled his brother close, holding him securely to his chest as his body automatically forced him to take a breath. He gagged, feeling the rush of cold water enter his lungs and saw bubbles float in front of his face in a mad race to the surface. Fíli writhed, violently kicking his legs, hoping to reach the surface as black spots began forming in and out of his vision.

He and his brother weren't going to die here. They still needed to reach Erebor.

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**So yep, that's it. Questions? Comments? Indifference? Please let me know what you think. Also, I stated I knew nothing of dwarves so if you got some info, please share. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Special thanks to Constellationsoftears and Mizuki-the-dead. Your review and follows made me so happy! *Air high five* If you liked chapter one, hopefully you'll like chapter two and stick with me! Leave a review if you can; tell me what you like, don't like, what I should do to improve, if you hate me and what not.**

**I don't own The Hobbit and I don't know a lot about The Hobbit – so if you got some info, feel free to share – especially if anyone knows dwarfish words or phrases that would be awesome. Read somewhere that Westron is the language spoken in The Hobbit so I hope I at least got that right. : ) Fair warning – there is some mild cursing.**

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**Wishing Well**

***Two***

I took a seat on the grass under the east end of the bridge, facing the supporting pillar that was most distant from my house. I stared up at the concrete arches that had graffiti on them, thinking on what to do. I wanted to say I was like Wendy and could sense bad things so I could pinpoint the energy and –bam- cast it out but I couldn't. To be honest, I wasn't even one hundred percent sure this would work. My abilities weren't great and I didn't always get a sense of accomplishment whenever I finished a spell. Heck, even a few spells have back fired on me. The few times I was absolutely confident in my self was when I purified my old apartment that my ex and I shared and when I placed protection spells on my and Wendy's jewelry. When we were 12, Wendy went to Japan to visit some relatives and brought back some friendship bracelets for us. She gave me a dark, jade Buddha bracelet (the ones with the beads – not his crazy face) that had four silver beads in it that had the Kanji "Strength", "Honor", "Love" and "Courage" engraved on them. Wendy had gotten herself the same thing except in moonstone. We wore them all the time and I felt successful casting a protection charm on those. A bridge – not so much. Oh, here's some background information on this bridge so you'll understand why I'm so paranoid about it. Since the beginning of this month, five girls had been robbed or assaulted for their things on this bridge. Yeah people get attacked on campuses everywhere but this is a new record of assault and robberies in just one month here. Wendy and other girls (well people in general) walked the bridge daily and I was taking it upon myself to ensure their safety! Ba da da - Super El!

I sighed, figuring out the best thing I could do was a combination; I'd purify the bridge and cast a safe journey spell on it. I got up and pulled off my hoodie and tied it to my waist - why I put in on in this hot weather was beyond me. It had been cool and windy the other day but I guess Mother Nature was in a "let's make it hot" mood. I dug around momentarily into my satchel and pulled out a white stick of chalk. Carefully I began making the triquetra, or the trinity symbol, on a part of the concrete pillar that was free of graffiti. I started with the top, curving and dragging the chalk downwards towards the left creating a half circle. I continued on, slowly dragging the chalk back up a tiny bit and over to the right, moving across the first mark and making a rounded point on the left side. Once I was level with the left point on the right side, I drew the curve back up towards the top, creating another rounded point and closing the symbol where I first started. I pocketed the chalk then dug around in my bag, pulling out a lighter and a tea light candle. I lit the tea light and placed it in the bottom right position under the trinity symbol in the pentagram spot for fire.

"By fire be cleansed." I chanted.

I dug around in my satchel again and pulled out a small plastic baggie that held my vanilla scented incenses and pulled out a stick. I lit the end of it with the tea light and stuck the wooden end in the earth in the air position under the symbol.

"By air be cleansed." I glanced around, making sure everything was still clear. So far so good! Quickly I made my way towards the river and dipped my hands into the cold water, cupping the liquid as best as I could in both my hands. I shuffled back to my spot and began pouring the water up and to the right above the tea light. "By water be cleansed."

I ran back towards the edge of the bank and picked up a handful of wet dirt and tiny pebbles. I hurried back towards the pillar and began sprinkling the dirt and stones below and left near the incense completing the pentagram.

"By earth be cleansed." I finished, waiting till the flame and the incense went out before I made my way back up the bank and onto the bridge. There were a few joggers passing by and I gave them a polite nod when they looked over at me. Once they left I dug around in my bag for my amethyst crystal and began lightly dragging the stone over the concrete railings, leaving little marks as I walked across the bridge.

"Bless our journey and keep us from harm, with light of protection and amethyst charm." I murmured, keeping my voice low as I traveled. Some more people passed on by but they paid no attention to me, scuttling on about their business. "Our path be straight and free from strife, many more adventures left upon our life." I finished, reaching the end of the bridge. I quickly scanned around, seeing no people on the west end and dashed downhill to the bank and towards the pillar. I began drawing the triquetra again and repeated the same ritual I did on the other side, lighting a tea light and incense and sprinkling some water and dirt in the spots of the pentagram.

"By earth be cleansed." I finished off, waiting for the incense and tea light to go out. A slight breeze blew by and nothing happened. The bridge didn't collapse or catch on fire. A portal didn't appear in the river. Dead bodies didn't rise from the ground to devour us and aliens didn't abduct me.

Success!

I grinned and danced around, jumping up and down and pumping my fists into the air. Oh Wendy you were wrong – I just successfully completed an improvised spell to protect everyone who travel on this bridge. Woohoo! You are welcome everyone who may cross this bridge! I continued my victory dance, doing a cartwheel the same time another gust of wind blew on by. It was the most random, abnormal gust of wind and it made me tumble onto my butt when I was trying to land on feet.

"Fuuuuuudge." I whined from my seat on the ground. I was about to yell some profanities into the wind but a dark mass floating down the river caught my eye. It was just exiting out from under the shadow of the bridge and looked a lot like two bodies floating along. Well, one looked like it was floating, while the other appeared to be struggling to keep it and the other's head above water while it drifted on its back. I stared at it, thinking that it wasn't going to make it, flailing like it did in the middle of the river.

I sat there thinking. It could be dangerous like the high school gym teacher always said, _"Never jump into the water to rescue a drowning person because most likely they'll be panicking and drown you too."_ It's not like I was carrying one of those stupid, white, circle floatation devices in my satchel to toss to them. The moving body flailed some more, struggling for the shore.

What to do, what to do.

I got up and headed back home to make me a sandwich.

Just kidding!

I pushed myself from off the ground and ran toward the edge of the river towards them, hauling ass like nobody's business. Saving two bodies from a river isn't really "something bad". I hoped it wasn't too late and that maybe Wendy's senses were off today.

* * *

**(Wishing Well)**

**(In the wet, wet world of the White River)**

Fíli struggled, body aching and mind spinning as he surfaced. He gasped for breath, coughing up water and trying to replace the fluid in his lungs with air. He held Kíli close, leaning back so his brother could lay his back onto his chest and keep both their heads above water. Everything suddenly felt wrong to Fíli. Little black spots moved in and out of his field of vision as his eyes slowly began focusing on the white clouds in the blue sky above him.

First off, _that_ was wrong. Last time he was above water, it was raining and cold and dreary. Now it was bright and warm. Well, the sunlight that was beaming on them was warm, the water was still cold. There was the faint sound of birds chirping that replaced the shouting of the company and the wind. _That_ also was wrong. Fíli pushed the inaccuracies out of his mind. They didn't matter at the moment. What was important right now was his and Kíli's safety and he could see a blurry image of the shoreline in the corner of his eye. He made some pitiful strokes to get to the safety of land. There was a sudden commotion of splashing coming somewhere out of Fíli's field of vision, causing him to tense up as he tried to turn over to better swim to shore.

"What in Durin's name is going on?" Fíli asked out loud to himself, finally reaching the shallower part of the river. Fíli pulled his brother up, trying to support him as he attempted walking but his legs trembled under him, fatigued from all the kicking in the water. His clothes were soaked and weighing him down, making moving more difficult than what it should have been. The being that had been making the noises was running through the water, stumbling about in the shallower end, saying things the dwarf couldn't recognize.

It was a female human dressed in the most ridiculous and slightly revealing outfit he'd ever seen. She had on a pair of blue, weird looking pants that clung to her legs and waist. A green sweater was tied around her waist and a too revealing form of shirt that had thin straps covered her upper half, exposing too much of her chest, shoulders and arms. The person said something to him, wading in the water and reaching her arms out to them. She was about knee deep into the water when Fíli reached her. He didn't complain when she grabbed one side of his brother, placing Kíli's arm over her shoulder as she helped pull him towards land. He preferred the presence and aid of his kin but this person was helping and didn't appear to be threatening in any way.

"Thank you." He managed to say tiredly, looking over at the girl. She blinked at him, confusion appearing in her blue eyes. She opened her mouth to say something but decided against it as they stumbled onto the land. "My brother," Fíli panted, trying to regain his breath, "can you help him?" His lungs still burned and his body ached. Physically and mentally he was drained and didn't know what to do next. The blonde looked between him and Kíli, touching his brother's neck before she mumbled something in another language he wasn't familiar with.

* * *

**(Wishing Well)**

**(Back to Elli)**

I panicked. First off, this guy was sputtering nonsense. Complete gibberish. Also, he looked like he just came from a Renaissance fair via river. His long, blond hair was a wet mess with stray strands and braids clinging onto his face. He had the weirdest form of mustache and beard combination, his mustache being braided with little clasps on the end. What really threw me off was the outfit he was wearing – thick blue fabric that seemed like it was from some medieval era and a dark green cloak. He was completely soaked, his clothing clinging to him awkwardly making him looked like a drowned puppy. A weird, drowned, medieval puppy.

Cold, pale, and a little lifeless almost looked the same. Well, Lifeless (let's call him that) actually had long, dark hair and dark facial stubble instead of a beard. He looked mildly normal but his outfit was similar to whoever he was with. Dark blue material piled on in layers with intricate stitching on the ends and also completely soaked. He too had a cloak on him. Blondie said something to me, causing me to stare at him. He motioned to the body on the ground and I blanked out. Wendy's the nurse, not me. My brain couldn't comprehend what I should do next and Lifeless wasn't looking too good.

"If I was Wendy, what would I do?" I whispered to myself, wide eyed and tense. I reached out a trembling hand and placed my fingertips against his throat. When in doubt, check the pulse I guess. There was a faint pulse racing under my fingertips. Okay, he's still pumping blood. Blondie eyed me cautiously, tensed up just about as much as I was and looking ready to attack. I moved my fingers off whatever artery that was in his neck and placed the palm of my hand over Lifeless's mouth. I glanced down at his chest and watched for any rise and fall. Warm air grazed my palm and I could see the slightest movement of his chest moving up and down. There was something that came next after checking pulses and signs of breathing. I couldn't quite remember so the only next logical thing that popped into my head was to hit him.

Wendy would have lost it if she saw me do this. I quickly glanced at Blondie and muttered a quick apology as I turned his friend over onto his side and delivered some hard hits to the guy's back. There was a sudden gasp from the man and then a coughing fit as he began coughing up whatever water he had gotten into his lungs. Blondie grabbed his friend and tried to get the man to focus on him, shaking him a bit and saying things I couldn't understand. The now slightly alive man's eyes fluttered momentarily and he mumbled something before coughing up some more water and going unconscious.

"Are you alright?" I asked. It was useless, really. It's not like we could understand each other. I reached out and turned the brunette's head towards me, catching a glimpse of something trailing down the side of his face I hadn't noticed before. I made a face, grimacing as my fingers touched the thin line of blood running down from the side of his head. I quickly unwrapped the sweater from around my waist and pressed it up against his head, earning a hiss from him.

Noises meant he was doing good, right? I wiped off whatever blood I could see before tossing my sweater over my shoulder. "Let's get him out of here." I stated to Blondie, slipping one of Slightly Alive's arms around my shoulder while I held him around the waist. Blondie did the same on the opposite side and followed me up the hill. A crowd started forming on the sidewalk and people were stopping what they were doing to stare at us as we awkwardly walked towards them.

"Is everything alright? Do you need us to call 911?" A few people asked, eyeing us suspiciously. Blondie was glancing around wearily and protectively holding his friend close as I lead the way, brushing everyone aside. I was getting the vibe that this guy was about to attack the next person that came too close to him. It didn't help that they looked funny and wet which was probably drawing everyone in.

"Nope. We're good. Just a couple of college kids getting a little too drunk by the river." I stated, hoping everyone would take the lie and would back off. A few people began leaving, not wanting to actually deal with us (probably because there was a crazy looking guy shooting glares at everyone) and eventually the crowd dispersed. I waited on the sidewalk, glancing left and right to make sure no cars were coming by before I stepped into the street. The house was literally right across the street and maybe if I got over there quick enough I could figure out what in the world was going on before Wendy came back. Unfortunately Blondie yanked me back, eyeing the road cautiously and glaring between me and it like he was expecting it to swallow us whole. I rolled my eyes at him and pulled on forward.

"C'mon. Please." I begged, pulling him along. He hesitantly gave in, putting one foot onto the black asphalt to test it before following me across the street. We darted through the yard and up to the porch, scrambling into the house. Oh Gods, Wendy was gonna kill me.

* * *

**(*****)**

I paced back and forth, covering my mouth with my hands as I crossed form one end of the living room to the other. Weirdo One and Two (I can't keep calling them Blondie and Slightly Alive) were in Wendy's room. My room was a total wreck and hers was the cleanest and closest place to get too. I managed to get the two in there and the second Weirdo One set the other guy down on the bed I bolted out of the room. It hadn't even been five minutes and I was pacing back and forth, violently glancing at the clock on the DVD player every so often. Wendy was coming home soon and she was gonna flip. Freak out. Murder me. Murder them. Destroy the world! Actually I had no clue what she'd do but it wasn't going to be good.

"What am I gonna do?!" I yelled, covering my face with my hands. I heard the squeak of the knob turning and then the door opening.

Wendy was home.

There was the usual thud of her book bag hitting the floor and I looked up to see Wendy standing in the doorway in her olive green scrubs, staring at the floor. Maybe she was in a nursing kind of mood since she was in uniform and would be all about taking care of the two in her room.

"Why is the carpet wet?" She asked, looking up at me.

"I was in the river." I blurted out, causing her to make a face at me.

"Are you okay?"

"Mmhmm." We eyed each other cautiously for a moment. "Before you freak out," I began, cringing in fear. "There are two guys in your room." There was a quiet pause between us and I feared she'd freak out.

"What?"

Well that wasn't that bad. She stared at me, wide eyed and fearful as if I said I brought serial killers home. Oooh, didn't think about that. I possibly could have. That could've been the bad thing she was feeling.

"They were in the water and they were drowning and I didn't know what to do…"

"So you brought them home? Did it not occur to you to call 911?!" Wendy shouted, quickly walking towards her room. "Are they okay?"

"I don't know, I kinda just left them in your room." Wendy whipped around and stared incredulously at me.

"You just left them?" I wasn't scoring any brownie points with her today. "Did you talk to them about going on the hospital? Oh my God, El, they could be dead. In my room." I cringed again.

"I kinda can't."

"Why not?"

"They're a little weird. And they don't speak English." I added timidly. Wendy stopped in front of her door as it slowly creaked open. Weirdo One was peering out at us from behind the door. I blinked a few times and stared between the two. I never really noticed how short he was till I saw Wendy standing in front of him. She was about 5' 2" with shoes on and he seemed about an inch or two shorter than her. I felt like I was a giant, me being around 5' 5".

"Are you okay?" She asked quietly, staring at the guy. He said something in a language I didn't understand and I'm pretty sure Wendy didn't either. She knew some Japanese but even I knew he wasn't speaking that. She turned her attention to me, her face blank. "Why is he wet?"

"Pretty sure I mentioned we were in the river. It has water which is kinda wet." I mouthed off. She shook her head at me and timidly asked him if she could enter the room. I rolled my eyes. I don't know what part of him not speaking English she did not understand. Wendy squeezed between the guy and the door and made her way into the room. I walked over to them and peeked in, seeing if the second guy was awake. Wendy squeaked, rushing over to the bed and tilted the guy's head to the side, eyeing the wound on his head that started bleeding again.

"Elli!" She whined, sounding incredibly childish. "He's bleeding and cold! They're both sopping wet and shaking!"

Ooh! Sorry! Not a nursing student. I was in the same river and I'm fine. But then again I was only knee deep in it for a few minutes. I like how she failed to notice my sweater on her dresser that had his blood on it. At least I applied pressure to it momentarily and cleaned it up.

"What do you want me to do?" I huffed.

"Grab some towels and blankets. See if you have any of your exe's old clothes they can change into. Let's get them dried off and warm before they die from hypothermia." She answered as if it was the most obvious thing to do in the world.

"I'll see what I can do." I mumbled and walked off, looking for some of Cole's old clothes they might fit into.

* * *

**(Wishing Well)**

**(Fíli and Kíli)**

Fíli had no idea what was going on. Everything was different. The people here wore weird clothes, the roads and pathways were paved in grey and black stones he'd never seen before, and nobody spoke Westron. Once they had entered a weird house, the blonde girl led Fíli and his brother through the front room and into another room. One second the human girl was there helping him then next second she was gone. Fíli barely had Kíli on the bed when she decided to disappear. There was slight movement coming for the young dwarf on the bed so Fíli took a seat at the foot of the bed, waiting on his brother to come too.

"What happened?" Kíli groaned, eyeing the room around him as he slowly gained consciousness. Everything was visually fuzzy to the younger dwarf, making it hard for him to focus on the figure at the end of the bed.

"I'm not entirely sure." Fíli replied, "What happened when you were cutting Myrtle lose?"

Kíli put his hand to his head getting the blood on his fingertips.

"Myrtle kicked me in the head." Kíli replied, wincing and wiping the blood down the front of his tunic. "Where are we? Where is everyone?" The image of the room slowly becoming clear.

"Not sure about that either." Fíli replied back, beginning to worry about the company now that Kíli was safe. The two dwarves glanced around the room, getting familiar with their surroundings for the moment. Kíli was on a bed that was centered up against the wall. On either side of the bed were bed stands that had a random assortment of books and knick-knacks on them. There were a few items the two couldn't recognize placed on the dresser which was on the wall furthest from the door. Fíli kept his spot at the foot of the bed, giving his brother some space to recover. There was muffled yelling coming in from outside the room that caught the boys' attention.

"Is there somebody out there?" Kíli asked still trying to wipe the blood off his forehead and hand. Fíli moved off the bed and to the door to see what was happening on the other side.

"Last I knew it was just one other person here." He mumbled, opening up the door and almost getting bumped into by another person. He stared at a pair of big green eyes that had a look between panic and fear in them. The girl had a good inch on him but she was pretty petite compared to the other female and appeared completely unthreatening. Her outfit was weird, being a tunic and pair of pants that were olive green but at least modest. She said something quietly and if he didn't watch her mouth move he probably would've missed her statement.

"I'm sorry but I don't understand you." He replied back to the girl. She turned to the blonde behind her and started saying a few things. She said something timidly back to him and squeezed between him and the door and into the room without a reply. The girl emitted a squeak dashed over to Kíli who was looked at his bother in confusion. Fíli almost jumped her when she reached out to Kíli, laying her hand on his face. She gently tilted his head to the side and both brothers eyed each other in confusion as she started saying things to the other girl who was hiding behind the door. The blonde grumbled something and left the room, leaving the dark haired girl to mess with them.

"What is she doing?" Kíli asked as the dark haired girl hopped off the bed and began rummaging through her night stand. Women didn't frequently throw themselves at Kíli and this was mildly surprising and creepy for the younger dwarf.

"Honestly I don't know." Fíli replied back, moving closer to the girl who was still rummaging around. She pulled out a small white box that had a red symbol on it and began pulling out white packages from within it. She said something sounding mildly apologetic as she opened a pack and placed a tiny, wet, cloth to Kíli's forehead. The younger dwarf winced, feeling a slight sting and pouted. Fíli almost chuckled at his brother's expression. They both had experienced this before when they were younger, getting hurt when they were first learning to fight with practice swords with Dwalin or Uncle Thorin. Their mother fretted over them, trying to clean and patch up every little scratch on them. Kíli was pouting like he was a child again – he never liked it when their mother fussed over his wounds, babying him, and this stranger was all over him trying to clean him up. Granted this wound actually need attention compared to some of the tiny scratches their mother worried over.

Kíli pulled back out of her grasp and made a face at her. "You really don't have to do that." He grumbled, trying to get her to stop. Apparently she didn't care and opened up another package, placing the white, square bandage to Kíli's cut and saying something.

"I think she might like you." Fíli teased as Kíli tried to move her hand away from his head. She shot him a look that obviously meant "Don't-you-dare-move-this-bandage" and continued to apply pressure.

"I think she is over reacting." Kíli griped. The girl repeated her statement again, motioning for Kíli to put his hand on the bandage which he did reluctantly. Looking like she was satisfied that Kíli was going to keep pressure on the wound, the girl moved away from him. She said something and pointed to herself, causing the brothers stare at each other than to her.

_"Wendy."_ She repeated, pointing to herself again.

"Wendy?" They repeated simultaneously, causing the girl to smile and nod her head. She then said something and pointed to Kíli who frowned at her, not quiet catching on.

"I think her name is Wendy and she wants to know our names." Fíli guessed. The girl, Wendy, looked between the two timidly.

"Kíli, at your service," Kíli stated bowing his head slightly. She awkwardly repeated his name then turned her attention over to Fíli.

"Fíli, at your service." Wendy made a face and repeated his name. At least they had their names down now. There was a squeak from the door and the blonde girl came in carrying a handful of linens and clothes. Wendy stated some things and motioned over to the blonde, causing the other girl to look confused. Eventually the blonde nodded and simply said, "Elli" to them. Both dwarves introduced themselves to Elli, bowing their heads towards her. Elli glanced between the three of them and handed over some things to Wendy who placed them on the dresser. The other items she handed over to Fíli and Kíli. Wendy stated a few things and motioned to their clothes before grabbing her friend and pulling her out of the room a little too quickly. The door shut behind them and the two brothers stared at each other digesting what just happened. Kíli waited a moment before he peeled the bandage off his head and tossed it randomly somewhere across the room. He unfolded the items that he was given and looked to his older brother.

"Are you going to change into these…clothes?" Kíli asked, watching as his brother took a towel off the dresser and began drying himself off as best as he could.

"I'm thinking it would be better if we did." Fíli stated taking of his shirt and using the towel to dry off his arms and chest. Kíli set the clothes on the side of the bed, no intention of changing into the clean, dry outfit. Fíli watched his brother act like a stubborn child who was refusing to wear the clothes his mother put out for him. "Would be awkward if Wendy had to come back in here and force the wet clothes off you and the new ones on because you didn't change." Fíli joked. He knew the statement was a pathetic attempt to get his brother to comply but the look on Kíli's face was mildly surprising. Shock, embarrassment, and disbelief ran across Kíli's face.

"She wouldn't." Kíli replied back, eyeing the dry clothes again. A seed of fear was slowly growing in his mind.

"She might. She forced that bandage onto you. Wouldn't be surprised if she did it with the clothes too." Kíli shot the dry clothes a glare and then hopped off to the bed to the dresser to grab a towel. "Better safe than sorry." Fíli joked again, earning a towel to the face from his brother.

* * *

**Not much of an ending for chapter but oh well. Reviews make my world turn and me happy. Also, let me know if I need to change Fíli and Kíli. Not 100% sure on how to do their personalities. See any errors? Let me know about those too.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Woah, so I've been dead for like a while now so if anyone is still here, thank you. I know you're not interested in excuses but I like sharing unnecessary info. So I got swamped with exams, finals, and homework. I was in Summer School, which was awesome, moved, and did a 5K obstacle course with zombies. Oh, I've also been sick for like two weeks and still had to do 40 hours at work. **

**Thank you to HanVanHelsing, Constellationsoftears, and TolkienGirl. Really appreciate your reviews, they make me dance and be happy. :)**

**And to answer one of your questions, I have Fili, Kili, Elli and Wendy not able to understand each other cause they're from different worlds and I figured that while Westron was like English, it wouldn't be exactly English and understandable. Plus I had some other things in mind for them to get to understand each other. I love making up spells for Elli and them not really working the way she wants them too. I hope this kind of answers your question - I really don't explain things too well or make sense.**

**Anywhoo, I don't own the Hobbit, know much about it, and appreciate any information and ideas. Also, don't kill me - I don't do drugs so I don't know if my drug statements are anywhere near correct. Also, I can't do math so if my math is wrong - feel free to correct me there too. **

**Warning there are some bad words. **

**Read, review, and enjoy - please. Pretty Please.**

**Wishing Well **

***Three***

Fíli and Kíli were gone. Everyone in the company was thinking it but no one was willing to _say_ it. Verbalizing their thoughts meant that they'd have to accept it. Accept the fact…

That the Durin heirs weren't going to be found…

That their disappearance meant their deaths…

That the Company would have to move on without them…

That they'd have to tell Dis that her sons were not coming home…

Saying that they were gone meant that they'd had to actually _accept_ it.

And no one was ready for that, especially Thorin.

The King Under the Mountain was soaking wet, having jumped into the river multiple times to find his nephews. Numerous times he dove underwater in the spot where Bofur said he last saw Fíli and Kíli only to come back up with nothing. An optimistic part of him was relieved, saying that there was still some hope that that maybe his nephews were alive. Maybe Fíli had saved Kíli and they had resurfaced somewhere further down the river and had made a little camp on land to rest before traveling back to them.

The pessimistic part of him kept saying that they were dead - that his nephews had drowned and were somewhere at the bottom of the river, never to be found. Fíli and Kíli wouldn't receive a proper dwarven funeral and their bodies would lie at the bottom of the damned river. The pessimistic part of him kept telling him that when his nephews' spirits were called on by Mahal, Fíli and Kíli wouldn't be able to reach the Halls of Waiting.

Thorin would never see his nephews again. Not in this life and not in the next.

Everyone in the company was cold and wet, shivering in the light drizzle of the rain. The sun was slowly sinking behind the trees and the light was fading with it. Bilbo looked at Bofur who turned his attention to Bifur who glanced at Nori who finished the cycle by looking at Bilbo. The hobbit and dwarves continued the game of eye tag for one more round, each of them thinking the same thing.

What do we do next? Do we continue searching in the dark? Do we make camp and rest for the night? Are we going to search again tomorrow or continue on with the quest?

It was the Grey Wizard that finally broke everyone from their thoughts.

"I think it would be wise if we stopped for the night." Gandalf stated from his spot on the bank, earning a cold glare from Thorin.

"We need to keep searching for Fíli and Kíli." Thorin snapped back, furious that wizard would think such a thing.

"Your company needs to rest," Gandalf retorted, "they've worn themselves out looking up and down the river for your nephews. They're tired, wet and cold. They need some time to rest." Thorin seethed, glaring at the grey wizard, knowing he was right. Everyone was tired and shivering in the cold. The last thing he needed was someone falling ill and losing another member on their journey. The King Under the Mountain let out a defeated sigh.

"We'll rest for the night," Thorin reluctantly stated glancing at the fading sun. "We'll start searching for them again in the morning." Everyone mumbled in agreement, slowly making their way back to their camp. Bilbo trailed behind a bit, walking alongside Gandalf as they dwarves trailed in front of them. The weather matched their mood and what was once a merry group was a depressed gathering of dwarves.

"Do you think we'll find them alive?" Bilbo asked, looking back to the river. There was a sound from Gandalf causing the hobbit to look up to him. Bilbo could see the worried look on Gandalf's face and the hobbit felt uncertainty build within him. If the great Wise Wizard thought that the two young heirs were dead, then maybe they were. No one would say it and only Gandalf would be so brave to break it to Thorin. Bilbo waited on pins and needles, waiting for Gandalf's opinion.

"To be honest Bilbo, I don't know."

* * *

**+++++ To Elli and the awful world of Indiana+++++**

Sometimes I wish Wendy would just calm the freak down - rearrange her furniture and feel the positive feng-shui of the world around her. Or take a Xanax, those things work miracles too, but sadly no, Wendy didn't do either of those things to calm down which left me to watch her run around kitchen like a maniac. I sat idly at the table, watching as Wendy flitted throughout the kitchen having a mild panic attack and cooking everything we had in the kitchen.

Literally, everything.

It started off with chicken parmesan.

Cool. I was hungry. I could eat that.

Then she started making spaghetti with meat sauce.

Not bad. Those go together.

Then came the breadsticks once the oven was free.

Then the salad.

And _now_ she was mixing brownie batter.

Wendy just turned our house into a mini Olive Garden. I have no clue if that's a yay or a no kinda thing, but whatever, our kitchen smelt amazing.

"You gonna calm down anytime soon?" I asked, getting up from my chair and taking a seat on the counter next the brownie mix. That sly SOB was calling my name and saying, _'Eat me Elli, eat me'_. I would resist though. Mind over matter, mind over matter, mind over brownie batter.

Wendy stopped for a second, thinking before heading to the cabinets and pulling out some plates, interrupting my mental mantra.

"Who says I'm not calm?" She replied back as she started setting the table. I dipped my finger in the brownie mix, unable to resist the temptation as I continued to watch her. There was the clinking of ceramic against the wooden table and the ticking of the timer in the background, making everything less awkward. If we were sitting in complete silence, staring at each other at the table I would have probably started freaking out too.

"Have you seen the kitchen lately, Wen? Hire some Mexicans and this would be the back kitchen of the Olive Garden. We just gotta put on some black pants, white button ups, ties and ta-dah! We're in business!" I dramatically threw my hands up in the air for emphasis, splaying some of the batter on my finger onto the cabinet. Apparently Wendy wasn't amused with my statement. She gave me a look then turned back to her kitchen duties.

"That was a little racist." She replied back, putting on oven mitts and pulling the breadsticks out of the oven and placing them onto a cooling rack. I rolled my eyes at her as she passed by, slapping my leg then pointing to the floor. "Down." Wendy commanded like I was some kind of dog. I made a face at the back of her head as I hopped off the counter. I started pulling cups out of the cupboard and began helping her set the table, trying to make myself useful before she could nag about something else.

"So, what's bugging you?" I casually asked, walking around the table and setting the cups down. Honestly I knew she was uncomfortable about the whole situation but maybe her voicing it would help her calm down. Wendy stopped and turned to me, staring at me incredulously. Or voicing it could have been a bad idea too.

"What's bugging me?" Wendy repeated, "what's _bugging me_? I'm sorry but there are two strangers in my bedroom who don't speak English and look like they came from the Medieval Times Fair in Ohio. _That's_ what's bugging me." We had a staring contest, her green eyes all panicky and fearful while my blue ones stared back completely calm and confused over the whole situation.

"And?" It didn't sound _that_ bad. I mean, there could be worse situations. They could've been druggies or gang bangers. They could have been aliens or zombies. They could have been prisoners who broke out of the Indiana State Prison but they weren't so it wasn't _that_ bad.

"And? _And_?" Wendy asked, her voice raising a bit. Maybe that wasn't the smartest thing to say at a time like this. "What are we going to do, Elli? Where did they come from? How did they get here? How are they going to get _home_?" I bit my bottom lip, taking it in. I hadn't really thought of that. What I had thought about is that I'm 75% responsible for this mess and I'm pretty sure Wendy was right when she told me to not do whatever I was planning on doing. 25% responsibility was attributed to the state of Indiana – if the sucky state didn't suck so much, this probably wouldn't have happened.

Oh and that magick was the answer to all of this! It brought them here and it would send them back! Insert dramatic music and or pose.

But how do you break that kind of information to your friend? I mean, come on. How many people actually believe in magick?

"We don't know who they are, how they got here, or what to do next." She whined, rubbing her temples as if fighting away a headache. "It's getting difficult to tell myself that they are foreign exchange students, cosplayers or super intense LARPERs or whatever people call them. This is just…weird. I don't like it."

I made some faces, trying to think of a good way to express my theory.

"Well, I was down by the river practicing a few things when you told me not to." I started off, earning a glare from Wendy. "And there was this spell I made that I wanted to try out…" I trailed off hoping she'd get it. Now that I was actually saying it out loud, there was no way to make it sound….sane. "It was a combination spell of protection and purification and I just wanted to make the bridge safe to cross. I didn't think I'd make some kind of portal or worm-hole time traveling thing…" I inwardly panicked as Wendy stared at me like I had completely lost my mind.

"You're kidding right?" She began, "This isn't the Wonderful World of Harry Potter, El. This is real life. We have things like science and logic and…" She placed her hands on the side of her head as if trying to keep her head from exploding as she looked up at the ceiling trying to find some word to finish her sentence with.

"Magick? Faith? Believing that not everything in the world can be explained with science and that there are other powers out there?" I questioned, hoping she might open up to the thought a little.

"No," she whined, looking back to me and shaking her head. "No. Science is real, Elli. Witchcraft, portals and time travel are not. We need to call the police. Get someone who can actually help them. Not play MythBusters around the bridge to test your ideas."

"I can help them, Wendy," I pleaded, moving around the table so I was directly in front of her. I clasped my hands together, practically begging like a small child for her to side with me. "We can help them, just give me a few days and we'll figure something out. Think of something, maybe another-"

"_We_? _We_ are going to get them back?" She asked cutting me off and pointing to herself. "I'm not a part of this. I'll be nice. I'll make sure they have a place to stay, food to eat, and clean clothes to wear but I am not going to venture out into the Mystical Land of Make Believe and join you on this quest to find wormholes and portals." I winced at her statement as she continued on. "I'll give you a day or two to play whatever game you want to play but after that I'm going to the police." I couldn't tell if she was trembling out of fear or anger, but she looked ready to cry or have a mental breakdown.

All I could ask my self was - where did the fun Wendy go? The girl who used to go outside and search for faeries with me? The kiddo who said we'd go on adventures and get rich by finding treasure? We used to talk about fighting goblins and trolls, running off into battles, becoming heroes and saving the day! Life apparently sucks at 20 and college takes the fun out of you. Darn you advanced education!

I narrowed my eyes at her, feeling them sting a little as I tried not to get all teary eyed. What she said hurt, but I wasn't going to let her know how much it upset me to know that she didn't believe me.

"Really?" I asked, trying not yell at her. We were both thinking the same thing and I knew it. The only difference was I was a little more open minded than her. "You're just gonna act like something different didn't happen today? Something great and amazing and a little surprising didn't just happen to shake the foundation of your reality?" I was making motions with my hands while talking to elaborate some kind of point. "You're really just gonna say, 'oh – that's nice' and pass on by like this isn't happening? Act like this is someone else's problem?"

"Yep." Wendy simply replied back, staring at me like if she even considered the possibility that Fíli and Kíli came from another world or time period that everything she knew would collapse from right under her feet. There was a moment of silence while the alarm for the washer went off in the background, emitting a loud beep.

"What do you mean, 'yep'?" I yelled as Wendy turned around and walked away from me. She continued out of the kitchen and towards the laundry room ignoring me. "This argument isn't over, Wen! Just because you're doing laundry doesn't mean we are finished!" I yelled, furious she just did that. Are. You. Freaking. Serious?

"I refuse to believe it," Wendy yelled back, "Just because you believe in cosmic powers of the universe and fate doesn't mean that science and logic isn't going to backhand reality right into your face! And yes, clothes take precedence over this conversation!" She finished.

Dear sweet Mother of Earth! The Heaven's forbid it Fíli and Kíli didn't have a clean shirt to wear tomorrow – accepting the reality of them coming from another world wasn't as important as solving the mystery of if their clothes could be put in the dryer or if they needed to be hung dry! I stomped over to the counter and began pouring the brownie mix into the pan and stuffed that sucker into the oven. I set the timer and seethed, stomping around the kitchen and finished setting up the table. There was the sound of a door creaking that caused me to momentarily stop my rampage. I peered out of the kitchen to see Fíli and Kíli roaming around the front room, poking around at things that caught their interest. They looked silly wearing Cole's old clothes that were too big for them. Fíli was wearing an oversized black Batman t-shirt and a pair of grey AE dorm pants while Kíli was sporting a too large Superman t-shirt and dark blue AE dorm pants. Both of them had the pant cuffs rolled up so they wouldn't trip over themselves but every now and then one of them would stumble over the hems. Fíli was poking at the T.V. and DVD player while Kíli was aimlessly walking around, poking and nudging random items such as the DVDs on the shelf and Wendy's nursing books.

Wendy squeaked in surprise, coming out of the laundry room and finding the two in the front room going through our things (well, mostly her things).

"How are you guys feeling? Are you okay? Hungry or anything?" She asked, firing one question after another. Kíli looked to Fíli who looked at Wendy, confused. There was an awkward second of silence before I decided to intervene.

"Hungry," I said and pointing to my stomach as the two men looked at me strangely. "ARE YOU HUNGRY?" I asked, raising my voice and slowing my speech. I pointed to them when I said 'you' and then back to my stomach at 'hungry'. Pretty sure pointing to your stomach was the universal sign for hungry but Fíli and Kíli didn't seem to get it. Instead they stood there, eyeing me suspiciously and mumbling things to each other.

"One minute." I turned back into the kitchen and grabbed one of the plates off the table and began throwing noodles and spaghetti sauce on it. I snatched up one of the breadsticks and headed back to the doorway holding the plate up. "FOOOOD. IT'S IN THE KITCHEEEEN." I taunted, trying to temp them with it. Kíli took the bait, eagerly walking towards me and into the kitchen without sparing Fíli or Wendy another look. Poor Fíli was being reluctantly being ushered in by Wendy. He was looking at my plate and saying things to her, probably in protest of eating with us.

"IT'S SPAGEHTTI," I stated loudly to Fíli, making him raise his brow at me as I pointed out to each of the foods that were out. "SPAGEHTTI WITH MEATSAUCE. BREADSTICKS. CHICKEN PARMESEAN." Kíli was piling up food on his plate, completely ignoring the salad that was available. He was saying things to his friend, his words slightly incomprehensible due to the fact that he was chewing on a breadstick while talking. I decided to try my hand at suckering the other guy to join us. "Eat Fíli!" I begged, giving him my best puppy dog eyes I could and lowering my voice. Doing the whole slow talking-shout thing you did to deaf people really strains your voice. Wendy rolled her eyes as she picked up a plate and handed it to Fíli who was giving me weird looks.

"El, you sound like an idiot," she giggled, "just shut up and eat. He doesn't understand English and you raising your voice and elongating every vowel when you speak isn't helping." I stuck my tongue out at her as I took a seat across from Kíli while the others prepped their plates. Kíli dug into his food, making a mess of himself as he managed to get sauce all over his face and bread crumbs down his shirt. Fíli took a seat next to Kíli and glared at the plateful of pasta and sauce like it some poisoned dish set out to kill him. Eventually he caved and took a small bite of his spaghetti.

"Do you think it tastes bad?" Wendy asked, taking a seat next to me and anxiously waiting for a reaction from Fíli. I took a bite of the chicken and shrugged.

"I think it taste good." I said between bites. Wendy wasn't Chef Ramsey but she could cook and it's pretty hard to ruin spaghetti and chicken parmesan – especially when it was my recipe. We both eyed Fíli, impatiently waiting for his response. It didn't take long after that initial bite the he was like Kíli and digging in, not caring that he was getting sauce all over his face. I smirked, eyeing Wendy from the corner of my eye and watching her try to restrain herself as she poked at her food uncomfortably. We sat around eating, well us eating and Wendy looking mildly grossed out with the two's table manners, in silence. A few minutes passed by and the noise of silverware clinking against dishes and the sounds of Fíli and Kíli scarfing their food and chugging their drinks echoed around the room. I took this awkward moment to think and reflect on the day.

Somehow today I screwed up my spell. Got that. I screw up a lot which isn't too surprising. But due to my mess up, I got Fíli and Kíli stuck in the worst place in the world - Indiana. I saved those two from drowning so it wasn't totally a bad day. I'm gonna count that as a point on my side – if I didn't cast that spell in my world, would they still be alive in theirs? Honestly, I don't know. I bit my bottom lip and stared at the two guys in front of me.

Fíli and Kíli were different and it was exciting. They were strangers from a foreign land, another world, a different time period or something and here they were – at our kitchen table, eating dinner with us. How Wendy could freak out was beyond me. This was awesome! This could be the greatest thing that could ever happen to me. To us. We'd pray and wish and hope that this would happen to us when we were children and just because Wendy grew up and "got a life" didn't mean I had to right? There was the ringing of the timer, signaling that the brownies were done and startling me from my thoughts. Fíli and Kíli nearly jumped out of their chairs, tensing up and grabbing for weapons that weren't really there. They glared suspiciously towards the oven as Wendy excused herself to check on the brownies.

I watched her, frowning as she timidly tip-toed around our guests and removed the brownies from the over. She glanced back at Fíli and Kíli quickly, looking at them as if she couldn't really believe that they were there before turning away and probably pretending that this was 'normal' or not actually happening.

_'That's it.'_ I thought to myself, _'Something crazy was going to be good for Wendy. Good for us._' We needed this… whatever…this was and a little excitement wasn't going to kill us.

**++++++Next day++++++**

I never did get Spanish at school. I was never really good at it. Wendy tried to teach me Japanese once but I gave up on that and only remembered a few things here and there. Teaching Fíli and Kíli English was just not gonna happen so I opted for a short cut. It was late in the afternoon and we were sitting under the bridge, waiting to for Wendy to come back from class. The rest of the night was uneventful. After dinner the guys went to sleep and Wendy cleaned the kitchen and did her homework before going to bed. I pretty much just passed out in my room after the guys went to their room. I guess Wendy got up early this morning to do her run and make breakfast because when I got up, Fíli and Kíli were at the table dressed in their normal clothes and scarfing down breakfast like there was no tomorrow. Wendy was nowhere in sight and her book bag wasn't in its usual spot. After scavenging for some extra eggs, bacon and biscuits that Fìli and Kìli didn't manage to annihilate, I got ready for the day and dragged the two outside.

So here we were, sitting under the bridge on this fine beautiful day! Fíli was next to Kíli, both of them talking as I sat across from them trying to figure out how to go about a spell I had in my mind. I had crushed mint leaves to promote energy and communication, a tiny vial of lilac oil for wisdom and good luck (really needed that one), and a yellow tea-light candle to represent the element of air to connect everything together. I began carving the air symbol into the top of the candle, making sure not to disturb the wick in it. I mixed a pinch of the crushed mint leaves in the lilac oil, shaking it up before I poured it into the tea light, filling in the markings. Fíli and Kíli stared at me, making faces as I pulled a lighter out of my satchel and lit the end of the wick.

"Ouch!" I hissed, drawing my hand back as the fire spread from the wick to the oil and nicking me in the process. I shot the candle a glare as the flames quickly evaporated the oil and leaves, focusing back onto the wick. I took in a deep breath of the light mint and lilac fragrance, trying to clear my mind and focus on the spell. I quickly drew the pentagram with my finger in the air above the flame and turned my attention to Fíli and Kíli hoping this communication spell would work.

"We mean what we say and say what we intend; let this barrier between us end." I chanted, moving my hand over the flames and making the smoke from the candle dissipate. "By this spell, when their mouth reopens, let the language of today be spoken." We waited for a moment in silence as the flame from the candle flickered. Eventually it went out and I stared at the two in front of me excitedly. I bit my bottom lip, impatiently waiting as Kíli opened his mouth to say something.

And it was gibberish.

Complete nonsense.

Fíli replied back and they began a conversation of in whatever crazy language they spoke. I let out a frustrated growl and got up, stomping around and snapping obscenities left and right. Good thing the two didn't know English cause if they called me out on it I would have been incredibly embarrassed.

Ladies to not cuss up a storm like I was doing at the moment and trust me, it was a violent storm of curses.

"_Nana korobi, ya oki._" Someone stated behind me and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I whipped around and saw Wendy standing beside the pillar in her nursing scrubs a few steps away from Fíli and Kíli.

"What did you just say?" I asked, trying to calm myself down. Fíli and Kíli were up, looking ready to attack but calmed once they saw it was just Wendy.

"It is a Japanese proverb my grandma used to say to me when I was frustrated." She stated, setting her book bag down next to the guys and heading over to me.

"And?" I asked, hoping she'd say it in English.

"And I thought I'd come down here to see if you needed any help. You weren't at home so I suspected you'd be wreaking havoc down by the river." She teased, not telling me the translation.

"Thought you didn't believe in this kinda stuff." I replied back whining childishly and stomping over to the edge of the river. Wendy made her way next to me and we stared at the blue water in silence. She shrugged her shoulders and started nudging a rock around with her foot out of nervousness.

"I don't. I just want to be able to help you if you need it." She replied, looking guiltily at the water as I examined her from the corner of my eye. "I'm sorry about last night, that was unfair and mean of me to say those things." We were quiet for a moment and Wendy fidgeted, poking her forefingers and thumbs together as she waited on me. I sighed, knowing I couldn't be mad at her forever. What was going on was a tad unreal. I guess normal boring people would freak out. Also, she was my best friend – we've been through thick and thin. No one else was going to put up with my craziness.

"So you're going to help me?"

"Yes."

"And this is a 'we' thing, not just a 'me' thing.

"I'll help you get Fíli and Kíli home."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Alright then," I stated, straightening up and giving Wendy a hard slap on the back. She stumbled a bit, stepping into the water and getting her shoes and scrub pants all wet. "I forgive you, so, here is the plan: we recheck the triquerta symbols on the pillars for anything that maybe out of the ordinary." I said, spilling out some of the ideas I had running around in my mind. It didn't occur to me that Wendy had no clue what I was talking about.

"Triquerta symbol?" Wendy asked, stepping back onto land and shaking out her shoes in a sad attempt to get the water out.

"Yes. Then we move onto the bridge and start dropping some things from the railing. Maybe there is some crazy Platform 9 and three-fourths going on, like an invisible line that allows things to move in and out between two worlds." I think there was something like that in Harry Potter, but I wouldn't stake my life on it.

"Elli…" Wendy said, not really breaking my train of thought. I ignored her and continued ranting, ideas just flowing as I became more and more excited.

"If we can find a boat or something we can get under the bridge and see if there is anything in the water."

"Elli…"

"If worst comes to worst, we can always get in the water ourselves…"

"Elli!" Wendy snapped at me, grabbing my arm and turning me to where Fíli and Kíli were earlier. "Did you see where they went?" She asked, staring wide eyed at the pillar.

My jaw dropped as I stared at the empty spot.

How in the world does one lose two short, oddly bearded, medieval looking men in the state of Indiana? And honestly, where would they even go?

"Alright, new plan!" I yelled, running up to the pillar to see if there was any clue to where they went. Wendy followed behind me, asking what she should do. "Let's split up. I'll take the house, neighborhood and the southern route of the river."

"I'll get the northern part of the river and the campus." Smart girl. I nodded and made my way uphill towards our house. Maybe he two went back home to grab a snack or something.

"If we find them, let's meet back on the bridge." Wendy shouted back to me, heading up north along the river.

"Yeah!" I shouted back to her as continued off in our separate ways.

This sucked.

This really, really sucked.

**+++++Hours later of Hide and Seek+++++**

I panicked on the bridge, pacing back and forth as the street lamps flickered on and the sun slowly sank out of view. I had no luck finding Fíli and Kíli and could only pray that Wendy was having better luck than me. I continued looking back towards campus, hoping to see some sign of the trio.

"C'mon, Wen." I whined out loud to no one in particular. Daylight had quickly faded and there were no people on the streets, making me feel uncomfortably vulnerable and alone. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to keep warm as the temperature dropped along with the sun. The Green Power Ranger T-shirt and blue jeans I was wearing just wasn't cutting it tonight and I didn't want to run home for a sweater in case Wendy or the two guys passed by. I continued waiting in uneasy silence till someone called out to me.

"Elli?" A male voice asked somewhere behind me in the distance. My blood ran cold as the voice spoke again. "Elli Thyat, is that you?" I slowly turned around, feeling my heart drop to the pit of my stomach. I froze in fear, staring at two of Cole's "good friends" who were casually walking on the bridge as if the run in was an everyday occurrence.

"It's been a while, Elli." Eddie said, walking up to me and lighting a cigarette. The other guy he was with, Darrel, circled around me, eyeing me up and down like I was some kind of pretty to. I didn't say anything to either of them, my mind slowly registering what was happening. These were just two of the few people who were really pissed off with me that I didn't want to bump into.

"Did you hear what happened to Cole?" Darrel asked, getting a little too close me. He stopped circling around me and positioned himself behind me, his chest just barely bumping into my back. My body tensed and I reflexively tried to step away from the man before he could do anything. Unfortunately for me, Darrel was quicker and he grabbed wrists, twisting them behind my back. I winced at the pain as Darrel held my wrists and forced me forward so I was almost face to face Eddie.

Before I die this brutal death, let me tell you some more about Eddie and Darrel. These two hoodlums became close friends of Cole around senior year of high school. Eddie was one of those ridiculously good looking guys with dark hair and bright blue eyes that girls really loved. He had one of those mischievous grins that made it look like he was always up to something bad, which was mostly true. If someone needed something sinister planned, Eddie was the go to guy for ideas. The only good thing about him was his tattoos. He had 'Veritas' written down his left forefinger and 'Aequitas' on the right, both beautifully done tattoos if you ask me and the only things I liked about Eddie.

Darrel was the typical hoodlum. There was nothing too special about him, he was just some blond haired, brown eyed guy that looked like he'd taken too many punches to the face. He'd been kicked out of school and sent to juvie so many times I've lost count. He was tall, built and made sure he was in every fight. He was a big and brutal guy that no one wanted to mess with and those who did found their way to the nearest Emergency Department. He wasn't always a fair fighter - he'd been known to deal a few low blows and pull out a weapon in a fist fight. If he wasn't winning, it was smart to assume he'd do something foul to turn the tides in his favor.

Now you can picture me about to be murdered again.

"What do you want?" I asked, wincing as Darrel twisted my wrists a little bit more just for fun. I hissed in pain, trying to move myself out of my captor's grip but it was useless. He had a pretty tight grip and the more I struggled, the more he twisted. Eddie continued smoking his cigarette, blowing smoke rings into the air as if contemplating what he wanted to say to me. I knew what they wanted and honestly I also knew I was screwed.

"Don't play stupid with me, Elli," Eddie said, letting out an annoyed sigh. "You know what we're doing here." He moved away from me and positioned himself up against the bridge's railing, causally leaning against it. He still had that stupid smirk plastered onto his face that I just wanted to smack right off of him. Darrel shoved me into the concrete railing, keeping his tight hold on me. I winced, feeling pain radiate around my knees and legs from the impact and the sharp pain of the concrete corner digging into my stomach. "Just because you were Cole's girlfriend doesn't really mean much to us." Eddie stated, taking a drag off his cigarette.

"Screw you guys. I had nothing to do with the business Cole was doing with you." I growled, casting Eddie a sideways glare. He shrugged his shoulders as if he didn't care. Darrel on the other hand didn't appreciate my moment of boldness. He let go of one of my wrists and used his free hand to grab the back of my head, slamming it down onto the hard railing. I cried out in pain, feeling the left side of my face slam into the concrete and him holding it here. At least Darrel was kind enough to turn my head to the side so he didn't break my nose. My vision blurred as my eyes began to tear up. A terrible pain was radiating on the left side of my face and the ringing in my ears was contributing to a horrible headache that was pounding violently away in my head. I closed my eyes and tried not to cry. I was in pain. Serious pain. I was bent over the railing, the concrete edge digging into my stomach and my face and skull feeling like it was about to explode. It didn't help that Darrel was pushing down on top of me, slowly squeezing air out of my lungs and shoving my wrist into my back. It felt like I was being squished in a mini trash compactor.

"Do you know how much money you owe me? Let's do some math here," Eddie stated, leaning over the edge next to me, hands folded together. "One gram of crystal meth is about $200 - $250. Let's say the batch Cole made was four ounces of crystal meth. How much money do you think we lost when the police raided your apartment?" If the moment wasn't so serious I would have laughed at how it sounded like a terrible math problem.

I can't do math to save my life and this was literally a, 'I need to do math to keep myself alive' situation. I kept my mouth shut, mentally praying that someone would come a long; the campus police, a student, someone! I prayed that Wendy was okay and she had found Fíli and Kíli and would help get them home and get far away from Indianapolis. I also prayed that the bridge would do something about _my_ situation but no such aid came from it. You traitorous bridge you.

"$5,600 to $7,000 Elli. That is a shit ton of money you owe me." Eddie blew smoke in my direction, causing my eyes to sting.

"Fuck you Eddie. What was going on between you and Cole doesn't involve me. If Cole owes you money, take your ass to the Indiana State Prison and get it from him." I snapped back, throwing him a glare. I used my free had to claw at Darrel's hand that was on my head but it was worthless. When I thought I had dug my nails in deep enough to cause him pain, he grinded my head harder into the cement. It literally felt like someone was taking course cheese grater to my face and just dragging it back and forth over my skin. I yelped in pain again, immediately letting go of his arm. As soon as I had my free hand down, Darrel stopped grinding my face into railing.

"We're not scared to beat you around. We are going to hurt you. Your family. Your friends." There was a pause and I could literally hear the gears turning in Eddie's head. Awful images of the terrible things I've heard about him doing to people flashed through my mind. My body involuntary began shaking in fear as I thought of my loved ones getting beaten by the two. "Doesn't that one girl go to school around here," Eddie asked, his voice feigning politeness as if making small talk, "That one quiet girl that never really talked to anyone. Cindy? Candy? Something like that?"

"Wendy." Darrel corrected.

That's it, we were screwed. I bit my lip, trying not to cry as I glared at Eddie. He continued talking, rambling on and on about his stupid money and his stupid drugs and stupid what not's. It didn't matter to me if I listened to him or not. I was probably going to die here tonight and just be another accident that happened on the bridge. Stupid protection spell, thanks for having my back tonight.

All the poor choices in life I've mad flashed through my mind, making me hate myself and wishing I had listened to my parents. To Wendy. To everyone and everything that told me I was getting way in over my head when I was with Cole. I was so gone in my little pity party of regrets that I barely heard a meek voice off in the distance.

"Le-let her go!" I heard Wendy's voice faintly echoing in my head as if she was a million miles away. It took me a second to realize that she was really here, yelling at Eddie and Darrel and that I needed to react. With my head being positioned to the side and me only being able to see Eddie, I could only guess that Wendy was on the opposite side out of my view.

"Run Wendy! Get out of here! Call the police!" I shouted when I came to my senses. I struggled under Darrel, reaching back with my free hand again to claw at his hand while I used my legs to kick back at him in hopes to strike him in the shins. I heard the shouts of crazy gibberish and realized that Fíli and Kíli was with her too.

"What the Hell are those two?" Darrel asked, loosening his grip on me for a second. Before Wendy or I could make a snappy comment Darrel lifted my head off the railing one more time and slammed it down against the concrete railing with such a force I thought my head busted open. Intense pain shot through my skull, causing stars to dance in front of my vision. I heard Eddie order for Darrel to 'take care of the other three' that sounded slow and faint in my head.

I slid off the railing, trying to catch my fall on anything as the ringing in my ears increased in pitch, blocking out any other noise to indicate what was going on. I tried to reach my arms out to grab onto anything but they felt heavy and flaccid and wouldn't move to my mental commands. I fell onto the floor, banging my body up more and causing it extra unnecessary pain. The world was in slow motion as the blurry image of Eddie came into my view. He grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me up to my feet. He leaned me back onto the railing like I was some kind of ragdoll so I was staring up at him as he spoke. His face slowly began blending into the dark sky above him as black spots started replacing the stars. The ringing in my ears blocked out anything he may have been saying to me and I watched his mouth silently move.

This was it.

I was gonna die.

I was falling in and out of consciousness, barely recognizing anything happening. The image of Eddie was blurring together and just becoming a mess of colors. If I was still aware of everything around me I wouldn't have laid there like some kind of idiot. I would have fought back. I would have helped Fíli, Kíli and Wendy but unfortunately I wasn't able to.

All I could do was try not to black out as I was lifted off the ground. I couldn't feel the ground beneath my feet and I wanted to scream. It felt like everything was in slow motion as Eddie dropped me over the edge. At first nothing really hurt. I was just falling – plain and simple. It wasn't until my body hit the water that I was in agonizing pain. My body stung the second it hit the water, feeling like a thousand little needles were being pushed into my skin as the water enveloped me. Next I felt cold and then afterwards numbness. The ringing in my ears was replaced by the turbulent noise of water and waves washing over me and pulling me under. Then everything went from blurry to dark.

After that, I couldn't really remember anything else.

* * *

**So that's it. There isn't much going on in the state of Indiana so let's have our characters go to some nicer places. :) Please send me a comment, some reviews, questions, statements, letters of the alphabet randomly strung together.**

**There wasn't a lot of dwarves in this one but the next chapter will have more Fili and Kili. Also, they'll start understanding each other too. It is getting difficult to keep them not talking with each other. I guess I'm like Elli and ramble a lot and want them to ramble too.**

**This is the most I've ever written in my life and I'm making it a goal to keep the chapters long! **


	4. Chapter 4

**I am so exhausted. School is back in session and I'm as lazy as ever and this is probably the chapter were I lose a few people I have. I am not sure there is any good way to describe a city as if a first time person would see it. It's just one of those things where I've been in it so often and explored the place and got lost that I just feel like I know it but just can't describe it. Obviously the giant grey buildings are skyscrapers. If you are confused as to the "tower" Fíli and Kíli are on it's actually a parking garage... Also, a lot of buildings in Indianapolis have security guards, one of the hospitals on campus treats prison inmates so sometimes you see state police there too. Some events in here are just like, "ugh" but I needed it to get everyone where I really want them - in Middle Earth. **

**Special 'Thank You's go out to: ****justicintheworldofhp-yearight, owlnighteye, ****serenity-hope-black **(That is awesome! Please tell me if I have the Wiccan spells or ideas wrong, :) I really would love your advice and to ask you questions if I have problems if its okay with you),** Ellie's imagination world (**Love the name! I'm glad you enjoy this story!),** SNOstorm and Ladysakura **(thank you both for the reviews, I'll try my hardest to keep going!),** Stargazing Strangers and Protagonist of Life **(Your comment made me laugh, I totally forgot I put that in the summary.)

* * *

**Wishing Well**

***Four***

It was unbelievable.

Giant, grey buildings sprouted up everywhere, reaching up towards the clouds and scraping the bottom of the sky. The atrocious things varied in size and were decorated in the strangest types of ornaments. Some buildings had numerous, colorful flags on their tops while others had large signs with strange writings strewn across the front of them. On the ground were crazy carriage like contraptions that seemed to be built from strange metals and painted in different colors. Even crazier was that devices moved on their own once people got inside them. The metal carriages varied, ranging from tiny to huge but were all loud, fast, and annoying. They would screech while starting and stopping, blare horns when they were caught in unmoving lines and emit loud noises that resembled music but just rattle things around them. The worst part was the smog it released when they moved. Black clouds of noxious fumes came from the contraptions, making Fíli and his brother gag whenever one of things passed on by.

While Wendy and Elli were arguing by the riverbank, Fíli had snuck away, dragging his brother along hoping to find the rest of the company. There wasn't time for them to waste by staring at the water. For a while the two dwarves followed the river, hoping to find anything familiar but unfortunately everything was just as crazy and bizarre as the area they were in with the two human girls. The further they traveled away from their hosts, the further they traveled into the city. Fíli didn't want to admit it as they wandered around but he was lost. He and Kíli were lost in a strange city with no way to communicate and no way to get out.

The people inside the city were nowhere as nice or helpful like Elli and Wendy. Numerous times Fíli had to drag his brother away by the collar of his shirt from a group of men who seemed to be antagonizing them. They had been shouting obnoxiously at them, making weird gestures in their direction and laughing. Fíli wasn't sure if it was the unrelenting heat, the inability communicate with others, being hungry or a combination of all three but he was becoming just as short tempered as his brother as the day passed. Thankfully most of the people ignored them, passing them as if they weren't really there.

After a long while of following winding pathways, avoiding large crowds of people, and almost getting hit by those crazy carriages, the Durin heirs finally found a strange building that resembled some sort of open tower that they could easily get into. The two had tried to escape the heat earlier by entering one of the buildings but they were promptly "escorted" out by a couple of men in black uniforms. It was now late enough in the day that there were very few people in the area and only a handful of carriages were located in the building stationed between little yellow lines that seemed to be drawn on the floor making lots. As Fíli took the stairwell up to the top, he hoped and prayed to Mahal he would see something familiar to him or his brother. He hoped they see a part of the river that wasn't encased in the city and blocked off by walls or debris. He hoped he'd see green hills or fields, a forest, a mountain range, anything that resembled Middle Earth off in the distance.

But he didn't.

Once he and his brother made it to the top of the tower and raced to the edge to look over the city, all they could see were more ugly buildings, black roadways that carriages traveled on and people milling about along with other strange and confusing things. All hope Fíli had of finding his uncle and comrades faded away, dread and uncertainty taking its place. The two dwarves stood silently for a moment, staring at the city in front of them.

"We're dead Fíli," Kíli stated, stepping back from the railing in disbelief. He linked his fingers together and placed his hands behind his head as he stared out into the distance. "It's the only explanation of why we are here." The younger dwarf's voice shook a bit, sounding as if he was trying to keep himself in check and not lose his mind over the was unreal.

"Are you saying we drowned in the river?" Fíli snapped, turning towards his brother. He didn't mean to sound so angry but the frustration was building up within him.

"No Fíli, we drowned on land." Kíli sarcastically snapped back, "How else do you think we died?" Fíli moved away from the edge and stomped towards his panicking brother.

"We are not dead, Kíli." Fíli replied, trying to keep them both calm. The idea was slowly sinking into his mind and fear was starting to take control of his rationality. The last thing they needed was for both of them to lose their senses.

"How do you know Fíli? How do you know we didn't drown?" Kíli moved his arms in front of him, motioning to the city scene in front of him. "Maybe we're stuck in this crazy place instead of the Halls of Waiting because our bodies were never retrieved. Maybe this is what happens when you don't get a dwarvish funeral, you end up here in some crazy state of Limbo."

"We are not dead." Fíli growled, his patience wearing thin. He didn't want to believe his brother. There was no way they could be dead. He and Kíli were going to the Lonely Mountain with their Uncle and kin. They were going defeat the dragon Smaug and reclaim their homeland.

They were not dead.

They could not be dead.

"Prove it Fíli," Kíli yelled, "prove me wrong." Kíli gave his brother a shove and Fíli replied back with a fist to his brother's face. The younger dwarf stumbled back a bit, rubbing his jaw where he was just hit and stared at his brother. A grin appeared on Kíli's face and the next thing Fíli knew was that defending himself from his brother's attacks. Fists were flying and both dwarves were striking out at each other, aiming to hit the other's face or stomach. Fíli had the upper hand of being more built than his brother - he had more muscle to him making his hits harder. On the other hand Kíli was leaner, making him quicker and more agile to dodge his brother's attacks. It wasn't long into the fist fight that Kíli tackled Fíli down. The oldest dwarf fell backwards onto the ground, the back of his head striking the floor and causing a sharp pain to radiate around his skull. The youngest dwarf sat on top of his brother, slamming his fist into Fíli's face. Fíli could taste blood in his mouth and his head ached with every hit he received.

"Do you give up yet?" Kíli asked, grabbing his brother by the collar of his shirt and pulling him off the ground a bit. Fíli took the opportunity to punch his brother while he was off guard and yelling at him. Fíli slammed his fist into the side of Kíli's head, hearing a loud cracking noise when his knuckles made contact with its target. Kíli fell off his brother and onto the ground with a thud.

"Do you still think we're dead?" Fíli replied back, sloppily sitting up. Panic built up within him when his brother didn't immediately respond. Kíli laid on the ground motionless with his hands gripping the sides of his head in pain.

"I kind of wish we were now." Kíli hissed, slowly sitting up. "If we were dead, that probably wouldn't have hurt as much." He winced, still holding his head with his hands.

Fíli chuckled at his brother's statement and Kíli joined in on the laughter, everything between forgiven. The fight between the two was good for them, helping them release their pent up anger and frustration they were experiencing for the day. They were a little bruised and bleeding but at least they weren't snapping at each other or fighting anymore. They were brothers and they fought - even though Fíli nearly busted his brother's head open and Kíli could have given him a concussion - there were no hard feelings between the two.

The heirs sat in silence for a moment, both of them sitting next to each other but staring off in opposite directions. Fíli watched as the sun slowly sank behind the grey buildings and casted an orange glow around them. It wasn't much of a pretty sunset. The smoke coming from the carriages floated around in the air making everything look dull and dirty.

A small growl came from Fíli's stomach and Kíli's stomach responded to the noise with a growl of its own. The noise drew the two out of their thoughts and back to their current situation: they were lost and now hungry

"Do you think they'll be mad at us?" Kíli asked, getting up and brushing the dirt off himself. Fíli followed his brother's actions but gave him a confused look when he faced him, not understanding his question. "Elli and Wendy," Kíli elaborated, "We did sneak off from them."

"I hope not. They are the only people here who seem to be willing to help us." Fíli replied as he made his way towards the stairwell. The two brothers walked quietly towards the stairwell, trying to think of what to do next. They were still lost, unsure of how to get back to Wendy and Elli. They could try to find the river and hope that they were still there waiting for them. If they were gone, would they still let them into the house for the night? Fíli made a mental note to keep an eye out for good spots to camp for the night incase they couldn't find their way back. Once the dwarves got to the entrance of the stairwell, Fíli stopped, hearing a faint echo coming from under them.

"Do you hear that?" Fíli asked, motioning for his brother to listen. The noise repeated itself, sounding familiar but unintelligible as it echoed through the tower. Kíli stood still and nodded to his brother.

_"Fíli? Kíli?_ The voice repeated, growing louder as it got closer. Fíli took a few steps down the stairs and peered around the corner. The echoing continued but nothing came into view. Fíli took a few more cautious steps around the corner to see the floor below them and suddenly Wendy came into view, slamming into him nearly knocking him down. He grabbed onto the railing with one hand and caught Wendy around the waist with his arm, keeping her from falling face down into the stairs. Kíli peered around the corner and quickly ran down the stairs.

"Wendy?" Kíli asked, meeting up with the two. "What are you doing here?" Wendy pulled away from Fíli, saying something to him and putting some steps between her and them. She eyed the two, making a faces and pointing at their cuts and bruises. She made an attempt to reach out and examine their injuries but Kíli shot her a glare that made her immediately withdrawal her hand back. She made an angry face at him, looking like she was doing her best to refrain from touching him. Their staring match continued till Fíli broke it.

"She must have come looking for us." Fíli replied to his brother. Wendy said something to them again and motioned for them to follow her as she continued down the steps. When they didn't follow, she let out a sigh and walked back up to them. She gingerly grabbed the cuff of Fíli's jacket, trying to pull him along. Kíli went down the stairs excitedly, pushing his brother along to follow Wendy.

"We're going back to her house! That means she isn't mad and we'll get food!" Kíli exclaimed, his stomach growling as he mentioned food. Fíli shook his head and followed behind Wendy, awkwardly being pulled and pushed along.

"Just because she found us doesn't mean she's happy to see us." Fíli replied, trying to not get his hopes up. After all they had snuck off and gotten lost, causing more trouble for the two. If he were in Wendy's shoes, he wouldn't be feeling so generous to help them out again.

* * *

**+++++ After Eating +++++**

As much as Fíli didn't want to admit it, his brother was right – Wendy wasn't mad. She led them into a building where they could sit and eat, bought them food and even attempted to speak with Kíli. Well after he and Fíli stuffed themselves with food and leaving wherever they were at, Wendy listened to Kíli while he talked. Fíli followed a few steps behind, watching Wendy as Kíli rattled on about whatever trivial things popped into his head. He hadn't really been listening to what his brother was saying. As long as he didn't hear the words 'Erebor', 'The Lonely Mountain', 'Smaug' or anything that would clue them onto their journey, Fíli didn't mind. Not that Wendy could understand them, but he didn't want to hear Wendy repeat those words. When Kíli paused in his story, Wendy would nod her head and say something as if urging him to continue on. When Kíli laughed at something he said, Wendy smiled attempting to at least respond appropriately to the conversation. Kíli didn't seem to mind the one sided conversation, and continued going on, telling her a few ridiculous things.

Why she and Elli were being so nice to him and his brother was beyond him. The two girls had given them food and shelter and even came looking for them when they snuck off and gotten lost. Even though he and his brother had thanked them earlier, there was no way for them to actually pay them back. Fíli felt that he was still indebted to them and it bugged him. All that kept running through his mind was his Uncle telling him to never rely on the help of others. Dwarves couldn't always trust man for help or to be honest and dwarves could never trust the elves for anything. The only people dwarves could trust were their own race. Uncle Thorin always drilled hatred and mistrust of elves and to be cautious of man into Fíli and his brother's head since they were children. He also drilled into their heads that they should always repay those who helped them in their time of need too. Elli and Wendy did fall into that category.

"Is everything alright?" Kíli asked, causing Fíli to come back from his thoughts. At first he thought his brother was talking to him till he realized that Kíli was staring at Wendy who was standing still. She was looking up a bit, green eyes moving back and forth as if she was following something moving in the sky. Both dwarves mimicked her, looking up in hopes of seeing what she saw. She said something and Fíli looked back at her.

She looked scared. Not the normal timid scared self she typically was but actually fearful. She said something to them, making a motion for them to stay put as she quickly darted off. The two dwarves stood in confusion for a moment at what just happened.

"Something is wrong," Fíli stated, breaking out of his confusion and running after Wendy, "Let's go before we lose her." The two dwarves followed after her silhouette, trying to catch up with her. Neither expected her to be so fast, her nearly being the same height as them. Kíli was the fastest amongst their company and even he wasn't able to close the distance between them. Poles along the street illuminated the way, allowing the two dwarfs to see her occasionally. There was the familiar sound of running water and Fíli knew they were close to the bridge.

"What in Durin's name is going on?" Kíli asked, stopping a few yards behind Wendy who was standing still again. Elli was being pinned against the stone railing of the bridge, kicking and failing against some tall, light haired man. A dark haired man was next to her, leaning causally up against the railing and not doing anything to help her. Fíli began cursing and shouting threats in Khuzdul at the men, gaining their attention. Both dwarves took a few steps forward towards Elli's assailants not understanding what they were saying back. The light haired man pinning Elli lifted her a bit, as if he was going to let her go only to slam her head down on the railing, making a cracking noise echo around them. Wendy screamed and rushed forward, trying to make it to Elli before anything else happened to her friend.

"Kíli, protect Wendy." Fíli ordered, rushing forward. The blond male had stepped away from the railing, cracking his knuckles and taking steps forward into the black road towards them. Kíli reached the man first, attacking him and gaining his attention so Wendy could slip on by. A dark haired man was by Elli, lifting her over the railing, dangling her backwards and taunting her before letting go. Wendy was still a few feet away when she yelled something to the man and skidded to a stop. Elli started falling backwards and out of view from them. Everything seemed to haze over after that. One moment Wendy was leaning over the railing looking for Elli then the next she was flying past Fíli towards the river bank. There was the vague image in the corner of his eye of Kíli fighting with the blond man hazed out of view. Everything in Fíli's peripheral view became a haze, the only clear thing was the image in front of him. The man was looking over the railing and down the river with a satisfied smirk on his face.

Fíli was livid.

Men did not hit women. Other world or not, it was an understood universal rule among all races that a man should never harm a woman.

The bastard in front of him not only allowed Elli to be hurt but discarded her as if her life didn't mean a thing to anyone.

There was a sense of satisfaction Fíli felt when his fist connected with the stranger's face. There was the familiar sound of bones breaking and blood splayed out of the man's nose and down his face. Fíli shook off the excess blood on his knuckles as he made his way towards Elli's assailant again. The man had been caught off guard earlier, not noticing Fíli come up to him until he turned his attention away from the river. Fíli's hit had sent him sprawling back and onto the floor, the attack leaving him a little disorientated. The man clutched his bloody nose with his hands and began shouting loudly. Blood continued coming out of his nose, leaking between his fingers and running down his shirt. It was apparent to Fíli that his opponent had little to no fighting experience - instead of getting back on his feet to defend himself, he stayed on the floor writhing in pain.

"Get up." Fíli growled impatiently. The man glared up at Fíli, still clutching his nose with one hand and using the other to push himself up a bit. Fíli grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt and pulled him up a bit when he didn't move fast enough. There was nothing fair about kicking a man while he was down. "I said, get up." Fíli repeated, letting the man go once he mildly steadied himself on his feet. A few more words, most likely curses and threats, came from the man's mouth as he took to a mildly offensive stance. Fíli tensed up, waiting for the man to make a move. His opponent struck out with right fist sloppily that Fíli easily caught with his left hand. Even though there was a height distance, the man was such a poor fighter he felt like he didn't even have to try. Fíli squeezed his hand over the man's fist, twisting it at the same time and causing the man to yelp in pain. Fíli yanked the man down towards him, using his momentum and weight against him as Fíli slammed his right fist into the man's gut, right below the ribcage.

The man gagged, gasping and coughing for air as his diaphragm contracted violently from being hit. Fíli let go of the man's hand and stepped back, letting him fall to the floor. The man laid there, clutching his stomach and gasping. The wind had been knocked out of him and he couldn't do anything else till he could breath again. It was pathetic that he was out after only two hits.

"Fíli!" Kíli yelled out, causing the older dwarf to look around for him. He saw his brother in the middle of the black road pushing himself up off the floor. "The bastard followed Wendy to the riverbank." He yelled, limping a bit as Fíli rushed to him.

"Are you alright?" He asked, helping his brother up. "What happened?"

"I'm fine," Kíli growled, "that coward dealt me a low blow. Go get Wendy before he finds her." The younger dwarf swatted his brother away, motioning to where Wendy and the man had run off too. Fíli darted to the end of the bridge, turning sharply around the corner post and rushing downhill to the bank. There wasn't enough light from the lamps to properly illuminate the area but Fíli could hear the splashing in the water and could see the faint outline of someone submerging another person in the middle of the river. There was a hand flailing above water, causing a splashing sound and creating waves in the river. Fíli rushed into the water, hissing at the coldness of it. It was icy cold and felt like the water he was in before when he first went in to save Kíli a day earlier.

"If I survive this I swear I'll never step foot into another river again." Fíli said to himself, shivering as he fully submerged himself into the water and swam out to the figure. The water current felt weird, violently pushing against him and speeding up as he swam. The figure of the person in the water began to come into focus as he got closer. The blonde man was submerging Wendy who was flailing one hand trying to get him off. Fíli cursed in Khuzdul loudly enough to get the man's attention who lost grip on his victim. Wendy's head popped up out of the water momentarily and she gasped for air. She flailed out with her free hand again, smacking her assailant in the face. The intentional or unintentional hit gave Fíli some time to get close to the man. Wendy was coughing and flailing, one arm trying to keep her a float while her other arm was wrapped around something else. The man lashed out at Wendy, hitting her in the face and pushing her underwater again as Fíli wrapped his arm around the blonde's neck. He thought he had a good enough chokehold on the man, hoping he'd get him to let of go Wendy and focus on him. Fíli didn't expect the man to thrust his head back, slamming it into his face. Pain shot through Fíli's head and he barely had a moment to hold his breath as the man leaned back, submerging them both in the water. Fíli left the man's fingers dig into his arm as he tried to break the hold he was in.

It was a power struggle. Fíli couldn't breathe and his chest ached with the familiarity of wanting air but he couldn't let go of the man. He was fully submerged under water and it was a struggle of whose strength would overcome the other, who'd be on top to reach the surface and breath while the other stayed underwater to drown. The current started to pick up and rush around them, dragging their bodies down the river as they kicked around trying to injure the other and gain the upper hand. Fíli got lucky, twisting himself and using the current to get them turned around so he was on top, his back to the surface and his victim facing the river's depths. Fíli's lungs got the best of him causing his chest to sear in pain. He let his grip on the man go and pushed off his shoulders, aiding himself in moving towards the surface and causing the man to sink further below. Fíli broke through the surface, coughing as he took in a deep breath of air. There was a splashing noise echoing around him and he feared that the man had surfaced too.

"Fíli!" Kíli's voice called out, drawing his attention. Fíli could see the faint outline of his brother floating in the distance, bobbing up and down with the waves. Fíli waved his hands up in the air, trying to catch the attention of his brother.

"When did you get in the water?" Fíli asked out swimming towards his brother. His limbs ached and his body was refusing to comply his commands. His strokes were sloppy, causing him to just splash more water around instead of moving him. He didn't recall his brother jumping into the water. Last time he saw him he was limping on land. Kíli made it to his brother and grabbed a hold of him, helping him float above water a bit.

"I dove in as soon as I saw you and that man go under." Kíli replied back pulling his brother along.

"What about Wendy and Elli?" The waves seemed to calm for a moment as the two dwarves floated through the water. "Have you seen either of them?" There was a moment of silence as Kíli debated on what to say.

"No. They weren't on land when I got into the water and I haven't seen them surface yet." The two waded into the shallower end, trying to keep traction and walk through the muddy ground below them.

"This is ridiculous." Kíli groaned, shivering a bit as he trudged onto land. "Twice this river has nearly killed us. _Twice._" Fíli wanted to throw himself onto the grass and hug it the second his foot touched land but he resisted. Dwarves weren't built to be swimmers. They were fighters. Warriors. Dwarves learned to wield axes and swords to defend themselves in battle at young ages. They spent time learning trades and how to craft things from metals and precious gems they minded from the earth. Mahal did not put them on Middle Earth to play around in the water.

"Do you see them anywhere?" Fíli asked once he fully caught his breath. He stared back at the river and scanned over the surface for Elli and Wendy. The surface of the water was calm as the waves slowed to an even pace, showing no signs of someone struggling or swimming. It was an eerie calm, now flowing swiftly as it was when they were in it moments ago.

Fear began to build up in Fíli. There were no signs of the two in the water and he assumed the worst - that he and Kíli didn't come in time to save them.

"Is that them over there?" Kíli asked, walking up river. Fíli spun around in the direction his brother was going and trailed after him. There was a hazy outline of a body hunched over on land, moving from a hunched position to sitting up. The two brothers picked up their pace as they watched the figure move.

"Wendy?" Kíli asked out loud. Fíli squinted his eyes and watched as the person performed the same weird maneuvers over and over again. Fíli broke out into a run towards Wendy and Elli.

"Is she breathing?" Fíli asked, dropping down next to Wendy who had her hands placed on Elli's forehead and chin, tilting it oddly. Fíli stared at Elli's chest, watching for any rise and fall.

There was no movement.

Nothing.

Elli laid there motionless.

Kíli took a spot on the other side of Wendy, closer to Elli's head.

"What's wrong?" He asked, leaning over Elli and glancing between his brother and Wendy.

"She isn't breathing." Fíli replied. The two dwarves stared at Wendy as she took a quick deep breath and leaned down over her friend.

"What is she doing?" Kíli gasped, scooting back in shock as Wendy put her mouth over Elli's. If the moment wasn't so serious, Fíli was have jumped back in shock too. Wendy pulled back and repeated her action. There was a rise and fall of Elli's chest as Wendy breathed air into her lungs.

"She's breathing for her."

Wendy sat back and placed two of her fingers on Elli's neck like her friend had done with Kíli before. She moved her hands again over Elli's chin and forehead and repeated her actions.

"Nothing's happening." Kíli replied, worry laced in his voice. The moment Wendy sat up from her second breath, Elli began coughing, spitting up water in the process. "She's breathing!" Kíli shouted, completely forgetting his statement earlier. There was a gasp from Wendy as she turned her friend to the side a bit, causing Elli to cough up and spit out more water.

Kíli threw his hands up in the air, cheering as Elli took in a deep breath and continued breathing slowly on her own.

"Thank Mahal!" Fíli stated happily. Arms wrapped around him and he immediately went tense. Wendy said something, hugging him tighter and rocking back in forth out of happiness. He turned to face Wendy to congratulate her but what happened next threw him off.

She kissed him.

It was obviously supposed to be a peck on the cheek but Fíli had turned his head in mid movement, accidently causing her lips to bump into his. There was a noise from Kíli and Wendy immediately let go of Fíli, pushing him a bit as if he had burned her. She looked embarrassed, face slightly red. She opened her mouth to say something and what came out surprised the two.

"_Fíli_,…_sorry! ...Mean to….that."_

The sentence came out broken, a combination of her language mixed with Westron so he only caught a bit of it. It sounded awkward and slow, like a child trying to speak another language for the first time. Fíli looked over to Kíli who was wide eyed and staring at Wendy.

"Did you?" Fíli began, turning to Wendy who was equally shocked. She had obviously heard the difference in the language between them too.

"She spoke Westron." Kíli said, laughing. "Do it again!"

"_Do…again?"_ Wendy asked in a mixture of languages.

"Do what?" Fíli asked. He hoped his brother wasn't thinking what he was thinking.

"Kiss her."

"No. You do it."

"You started it! You should finish it, Fíli!"

The two heirs began a staring contest with each other, trying to get the other to cave in. It wasn't as if Fíli never kissed a girl – there was a difference between kissing someone he had feelings for versus someone he just met. "Is there something wrong with her?" Kíli asked.

"No."

"Then why won't you kiss her?"

"Because it would be weird."

"This all is weird!" Kíli retorted, pointing to Wendy, the river, Elli, then to their surroundings. Wendy looked between the two, making confused faces as the dwarves argued on.

"_Her? Weird?"_ Wendy repeated. Kíli pointed at Fíli accusingly as he continued on.

"Look, now you made her think that she's weird."

Fíli fumbled for words, looking at Wendy who looked confused and hurt. "Kiss her and get it over with! I bet it's the only way she'll learn to speak Westron."

There was absolutely no logic in that statement.

Apparently there was no logic in the world anymore and things were just happening to happen. Fíli and his brother were in Limbo. Men threw women off bridges. People could breath life into each other and kissing allowed one to learn a new language.

Swallowing his pride, leaned over and awkwardly grabbed ahold of Wendy. He placed his hands on either side of her head and pulled her forward. He leaned in at the same time, closing the distance between himself and Wendy and kissed her.

And it was weird.

It was the kind of weird that reminded him of being a small child and him getting his first kiss from a girl by surprise. It was awkward and unenjoyable. They were both tense and had their eyes open, making the situation even more awkward as they made disgusted faces at each other.

There was a sharp pain to the side of Fíli's face and Kíli burst into laughter. Fíli rubbed his cheek, hissing momentarily as he looked back to see Wendy glaring at him. First Kíli had punched him in the face multiple times, then that weird blonde haired man head butted him and now Wendy had slapped him.

"What are you doing? That was disgusting!" Wendy shouted, her words sounding weird and slightly sluggish as she spoke Westron. Wendy made a shocked face and covered her mouth with hands, as if that would keep her from speaking..

"See, I told you it would work." The youngest dwarf said triumphantly. Fíli shot his brother a glare only to receive a smug look in response.

"That hurt though."

"I'm sorry." Wendy mumbled, her hands still covering her mouth.

"It's fine. Are you alright?" Fíli asked, still rubbing his cheek. The girl nodded, removing her hands from her mouth and slowly pulling herself up.

"I am but Elli's not. We need to get her to a hospital. She could have a concussion or fluid still in her lungs. She could still get sick or…." Wendy ranted, moving to her friend and trying to pull her up. Kíli immediately got up and began helping Wendy pick Elli off the ground. Fíli joined in, taking over Wendy's spot who was having a hard time lifting her friend up.

"Kíli and I got her." Fíli stated, moving Elli's arm over his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her waist to support her. Kíli did the same on the other side, helping to pick Elli up as much as they could. Wendy quietly thanked them and turned to walk towards the bridge. She took only two steps before she came to a sudden halt, the two dwarves almost bumping into her.

"Is something wrong?" Fíli asked, taking a few steps to the side to see what Wendy was staring at.

"Why's the land flat?" Wendy asked quietly, sounding scared. "Why's the land flat instead of slopped?" The two dwarves looked around, noticing that the whole area was indeed flat instead of sloped like earlier. There was the chirping of insects in the night and for the first time they noticed that the landscape was different. A good and familiar different.

"Where's West New York Street? The bridge? The campus and hospital towers?" Wendy asked, voice trembling. Everything was dark, stars shining brightly and illuminating just enough to show faint silhouettes of some trees, large rocks and plants. It wasn't the same chaotic mess of buildings and crazy contraptions, it was the familiar nature of Middle Earth. Fíli was excited, his heart racing in anticipation to explore more land to make sure they were really back. The sight of the girl in front of him brought him back to reality.

"Wendy?" Fíli asked cautiously as he noticed Wendy started to shake. He didn't know if it was from being wet and in the cold that was making her tremble or the realization that they might not be in the city anymore but he was afraid she was going to faint. He didn't need another body to pick up and watch over.

"I need to sit." Wendy whimpered making Fíli groan. She was going to faint. "I'm just going to sit here and pretend this isn't happening." She stated, lowering herself to the floor. Kíli looked at his brother making a face and mouthing, 'what do we do?'. They couldn't just sit and wait for her to calm down and they couldn't just leave her at the same time.

"Wendy," Fíli began. The girl turned around and looked up at him, wide eyed and terrified. Her green eyes were glazed over like she was about to cry. "Right now we need to move. Those men could still be near. I'm not sure if they drowned or if they made their way to the bank but we need to move." Fíli was used to his Uncle giving commands. Uncle Thorin always knew what to say – what moves to make, what to do next. Without Thorin here to lead them, Fíli had to be in charge and he felt incredibly unprepared. "When we find a safe spot then you can sit."

Wendy nodded, and took in a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself. Fíli kept his eyes on her, making sure she didn't faint as she stood up. He stared at her, looking for any signs she might lose her calm and have a mental break down. At least him and Kíli took their crazy first drowning better - they may have hit each other a few times but at least they didn't look like they'd cry. Wendy stared him in the eyes and he stared back, trying to appear authoritative and not nervous.

"Lead the way." Was all she said, stepping aside so he could be in charge.

Fíli had to admit it, Wendy was handling herself well. Inwardly he and his brother wanted to jump up and down, run around, and cheer about how they were back in Middle Earth but resisted. The night air was clean and the stars and moon illuminated their way. There was grass under their feet that expanded out everywhere instead of stone slabs covering them up. They had found a nice wooded area that had tall, thick trees that expanded further out. They weaved their way into the woods, trying to avoid tripping over roots and fallen branches. Fíli couldn't express how happy he was to see a tree – a real tree that wasn't some stick figured decorative item that the city seemed to have planted weirdly about. There weren't any ugly towers. There were no metal carriages. They weren't dead – they were back home in their world.

Once the found a good spot they made a fire to help them dry off and warm up from the cold. Wendy was seated up against a tree with Elli laying on the floor, her head in Wendy's lap. She was breathing regularly and would occasionally cough up some water or say something incoherent but nothing more than that. Her face was bruised where she had been hit and there were tiny scratches in the bruised area that looked like she had her face drug against the ground.

An awkward silence floated around them, no one knowing what to say. Kíli would occasionally glance to his brother and they'd make faces at each other but nothing else. Wendy was silent, keeping to herself and looking as if she'd burst into tears any second. Neither dwarf knew what to say to comfort her and they feared that if they said the wrong thing she'd cry. They were prepared for laying their lives down for Erebor, ready to fight orcs and goblins, slay the dragon Smaug but consoling a crying female was not something they knew how to do and left them paralyzed in fear. Neither wanted to be the first to speak and fortunately they weren't first to break the silence.

"Thank you," Wendy began, keeping her gaze on the ground as she spoke, "thank you for saving us. You didn't have to get in a fight with Eddie and Darrel but you did. I don't know how to pay you back for that."

Her Westron was getting better. At first her speech was spoken slowly and awkwardly as if she was unsure that the words coming out of her mouth were real. With the passing of time and her speaking earlier, the words became clearer and controlled.

"You knew them?" Kíli asked incredulously.

"We used to go to school together." Wendy replied, looking up at Kíli.

"Why were they attacking you and Elli?" Fíli questioned. Wendy shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know. I wasn't really friends with them. Elli used to hang out with them when we were younger."

"Hang out with them?" Kíli made a face and mouthed, 'hang out' silently to himself. It was a phrase they hadn't heard before and sounded weird. "Those were Elli's friends? Why would they try to kill her if they were friends?" The girls' world had a weird version of friendship if it included people trying to murder each other. Wendy shrugged her shoulders again.

"I don't know. Elli got into some trouble back home so I invited her to live with me for a bit so I have no clue what is going on either." Kíli opened his mouth to question Wendy some more but Fíli cut him off. She looked uncomfortable talking about it, shrinking back when Kíli questioned her.

"It's fine." Fíli said, getting a look from Wendy. "You don't have to pay us back. You and Elli saved us earlier so we're making it up to you two now." Wendy went quiet and looked back to the ground. They were quiet again until Elli mumbled something.

"What did she say?" Kíli questioned, curious as ever.

"She said she wasn't going to fall."

"That makes no sense." Wendy smiled faintly and shook her head.

"I know."

"You can still understand her? What language is she speaking?" Fíli asked. It seemed like a more important question than what she was mumbling. It was amazing how the language barrier just 'suddenly' broke.

"English, but it sounds a little weird. What are we speaking now?"

"Westron." Both brothers said simultaneously.

"What are we going to do about Elli speaking English?" Wendy asked. It was a good question. Wendy's Westron better but it was going to be a pain if she had to translate back and forth between them.

"You could kiss her like you were earlier and maybe she'll start speaking Westron too." Kíli teased, laughing as Wendy's face turned different shades of red.

"That was rescue breathing!" She retorted, trying to defend herself, "She wasn't breathing on her own so I was giving her rescue breaths!"

"Rescue breaths. Really." Kíli continued, enjoying how uncomfortable Wendy was becoming. He had no clue what rescue breaths were or how Wendy learned to do them but he did enjoy her embarrassment. "You kissed Fíli and started speaking Westron. You may be some kind of language leech, stealing someone's language when you kiss them." He kidded. It was a pathetic comment, he himself not entirely sure of what happened. All Kíli knew was that the more he went on, the more Wendy squirmed.

"That was an accident. I didn't want to kiss him."

"Someone doesn't like you Fíli."

"I didn't mean it like that."

Fíli laughed a bit. Wendy gave him a pleading look as if she wanted him to intervene and make Kíli stop. She looked like she might die from embarrassment but he was enjoying it too. It was nice to see Wendy looking something other than timid or scared.

"If I'm a 'leech' like you say, wouldn't your idea not work?" She asked when Fíli didn't come to her rescue. Kíli was quiet for a second as Wendy continued on. "If I kiss Elli, won't I leach and learn English again?"

"Fíli can kiss her. He's done it once, he'll do it again."

"Don't bring me into this. I kissed Wendy and she hit me." Fíli replied rubbing his cheek, feeling a sting at the memory of being hit. "I've done my job and paid my dues." Wendy apologized again and turned her attention back to Kíli.

"If Fíli does it again, he might lose Westron and learn English instead. Wouldn't that create more problems if you couldn't talk to him"

_"If so we can still speak in Khuzdal." _Kíli replied back in their language. The look on Wendy's face was priceless, causing the brothers to laugh. She looked like a fish on land, opening her mouth as if she was going to say something then shutting it again. She pouted at Kíli which didn't affect the dwarf at all

"Nobody is kissing anyone." Fíli stated, trying to keep from laughing and be serious for the moment. "You should go to sleep Wendy. Kíli and I will take watch for the night. I'll stay awake for the first half then Kíli will keep watch for the second. We need to get ready for tomorrow; find some food and make a plan." To be honest, Fíli didn't know what they were going to do next. Wendy and Kíli nodded in agreement and began to adjust themselves into more comfortable positions to sleep. Fíli looked between them and the fire, watching and waiting for the minutes to pass by as Wendy slowly fell asleep against the tree with Elli's head still in her lap.

He could tell Kíli was faking sleep. There were a few things the dwarves wanted to talk about in private and were waiting till Wendy fell asleep. Talking to each other in Khuzdul in front of Wendy would cause her to ask questions they weren't wanting to deal with. Fíli waited a few more minutes after Wendy fell asleep to whisper his brother's name. Kíli rolled over towards his brother, signaling that he was awake and listening.

"What are we going to do Fíli?" Kíli asked quietly.

"I'm not sure."

"We can't take them with us. We have to find the rest of the company and continue on now that we're back."

"I know, but we can't leave them either. They wouldn't last out in the wilderness without any help. They don't have any way to protect themselves-"

"And we have no weapons to protect them or ourselves with." Kíli interrupted. The two remained quiet as Fíli continued thinking.

"They took us in when we were lost and stranded in Mahal knows where. We got food and shelter and they even went looking for when we wandered off. We still owe them."

"I know," Kíli replied back, sitting up to face his brother, "but we can't continue on with them too. Either way I look at it, they are going to be in harm if we leave them in the woods or they'll be in harm if they come with us." Fíli knew his brother was right. With whatever decision they chose, the girls wouldn't be safe

"In the morning, we'll take them back to the river." Fíli stated. Kíli made a face at his brother, his brows furrowing together in confusion. "Maybe there is something, a witches spell, some kind of ancient magic, anything really casted on the river we aren't seeing." There was a pause as Fíli thought what nonsense he was spitting out, "maybe there is some kind of link between here and there in the river."

"You think some kind of witchcraft that was placed on the river?" Kíli asked, slightly following what his brother was saying. Outside of Gandalf, Kíli had never seen any magic before. Any stories he had heard about witchcraft came from his childhood where he and Fíli would listen to scary stories about Witches that lived in the wilderness.

"So we're just going to push them back into the river and hope for the best that they make it home?" The youngest dwarf questioned. That idea sounded just as bad as leaving them in the woods.

"I don't know, Kíli." Fíli replied rubbing his temples with his fingers as a headache started forming. "I don't know. All I can say is when we wake up, we'll figure something out." Kíli agreed with his brother and resumed his sleeping position on the floor while Fíli continued eyeing the group. Uncle Thorin always knew what to do. He never questioned himself and always made decisions that were best for the group.

Kíli was right – they had to find the company and continue on to Erebor. It wasn't an option to take them with them. Their presence would only create problems and hinder the group if they ever found them.

But Wendy and Elli couldn't survive in the wilderness alone and there wasn't a guarantee that he and Kíli could protect them when they didn't have anything to even protect themselves with.

If he was right about the river being a link between their worlds then them going back into the water could send them back and the best option for both groups.

Or it could just be a plain old river where they'd get caught in the currents, be swept downstream and possibly to their deaths if those men were lurking about still.

The flames of the fire crackled, tempting Fíli to close his eyes and give into sleep. His body and mind were fatigued from the events and his thoughts kept circling around on what to do. The more Fíli thought about it the more his head began to ache, causing him to close his eyes. No matter what he thought of, what choice he made, he had the feeling that he wasn't going to make the right one.

* * *

**So, I guess that's it so far for this chapter. My friend said she wanted a story where two people get caught in Middle Earth and I thought it would just be weird for two girls to randomly fall in a river, find some dwarves and just randomly go on a quest. I hope that it doesn't irk any of you that Fíli and Kíli fall into the river and go to Indiana then get caught up in it again and go back to Middle Earth. It sounds so repetitive and unoriginal. In the next chapter I will get into a bit more detail how the spell Elli casted works and what not. I hope the guilty feelings Fíli feels justifies his actions for helping them. As for Eddie and Darrel and the drugs - it does have a point in the story which will pop up eventually. I didn't just throw them in there fun randomness although it feels that way.**

**Anyways - same old, same old. Please review, they make my day. :) I ready them whenever I'm in a block or wanting inspiration. Please let me know what you liked, what you didn't, what I could improve, what you want to see, if there is spelling errors and what not.**

**Also, I'm not entirely sure if anyone is interested in proof reading my chapters before I post them. I make a lot of errors and I can't always catch them all :( . My friend hasn't been very responsive with me asking for advice and help so just curious if anyone out there is interested. You don't have to be an English major or been an experienced Beta Reader for years. Just anyone who is just willing to help is just fine. **

**Once again, thank you to all of you! :)**


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